Autry Beamon

Autry Beamon Jr. (born November 12, 1953) is a former professional American football safety who played for three National Football League (NFL) teams.

Beamon played college football at East Texas State University, now Texas A&M University-Commerce, and is in the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame.^[1] The Hall of Fame citation says that at age 16 he was the youngest college player in the country in 1970.^[2]

He is still the only player in his college’s history to be a four-time first team All-Lone Star Conference selection.^[3]

He is in both the Lone Star Conference Hall of Honor and the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame.^[4]

In the 1975 NFL draft the Minnesota Vikings chose Beamon in the 12th round (draft pick 311 overall).^[5] He was on the Vikings team that played in Super Bowl XI, losing to the then Oakland Raiders in January 1977.^[6]

In the course of his seven-year NFL career Beamon made 13 interceptions for 132 yards including a career best six picks in the 1977 season for the Seattle Seahawks.^[7] The following season he had four interceptions for the Seahawks.^[8] Only two players in the NFL — Rolland Lawrence of the Atlanta Falcons and Mario Clark of the Buffalo Bills — had more interceptions in each of those two seasons, 1977 and 1978.^[9][10]

Beamon had at least one fumble recovery in all but one of his seven NFL seasons for a career total of eight: three for the Vikings, three for the Seahawks and two for the Browns.^[11]

In 1977 Beamon scored his only NFL touchdown, returning a blocked punt in a Seahawks home game against the Baltimore Colts.^[12][13][14] His only other points in the NFL also came from a blocked punt for the Vikings in a home game against the New York Jets in 1975, resulting in a 2-point safety.^[15][16][17]

In both the 1978 and 1979 seasons he was the special teams captain for the Seahawks.^[18]