Eric Kattus
Encyclopedia
Eric Kattus is a former professional American football
tight end
who played primarily for the Cincinnati Bengals
of the National Football League
(NFL). He also played briefly with the New York Jets
of the NFL. He had played in college for the Michigan Wolverines football
team where he served as captain
of the team during the 1985 season. He was also a member of the 1982 Big Ten Conference
Champions.
After attending Colerain High School, Kattus spent five years at the University of Michigan
, where he redshirt
ted one year and was a varsity letter
man for four, while wearing the #81. As a second year senior, he was a member of the 1982 Big Ten Champions who went to the Rose Bowl. At the University of Michigan
he earned All Big Ten Conference
honors in his senior season. He was captain and started all 12 games for Bo Schembechler
's Michigan team that ended the season ranked #2 in both the A.P.
and U.P.I.
polls after a Fiesta Bowl
victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers
gave them a 10-1-1 record for the season. Kattus caught eight touchdown
s for the Wolverines among his 38 receptions
for 582 yards. Each of the three times he caught six passes that season he scored at least one touchdown and twice he scored two. In another game where he caught five passes, he had his only 100 yard game with 123 yards and a touchdown. His senior season was quite a progression from his previous seasons, which totaled seven receptions for 60 yards and two touchdowns.
by the his hometown Cincinnati Bengals with the 91st pick overall. He played for the Bengals for the first six years of his NFL career from 1986
to 1991
. During that time he had modest success with his best season being 1987
when he totaled 217 receiving yards on 18 receptions with two touchdowns. He also played on special teams and fielded an occasional squib kickoff return. In his six years Bengals won two American Football Conference
central division championships (1988
&1990
). In 1988, they won the conference championship but lost to the San Francisco 49ers
in Super Bowl XXIII
. The Bengal playoff run that season was best remembered for the Ickey Shuffle. Kattus was not on the Super Bowl
gameday roster. The Bengals also had winning season in his rookie year, going 10-6 but missing the playoffs. The Bengals did not have winning records in any of his other season with the team.
Kattus spent his entire Bengals career in the shadow of fellow tight end Rodney Holman
who played for the Bengals from 1982
to 1992
and went to the Pro Bowl
three consecutive years from 1988
to 1990
. The only season during Kattus' Bengals tenure that Holman did not play all 16 regular season games was the season Kattus had his best year. The Bengals played five playoff games during Kattus' years in Cincinnati, but Kattus only caught a pass in one. He in fact caught two passes for nineteen yards and a touchdown in the first round Wild Card game of the 1990-91 NFL playoffs
against the Houston Oilers.
He saw no passes as a member of Bruce Coslet
' 4-12 1992 New York Jets in his final season. Kattus signed with the Jets after Johnny Mitchell
was placed on injured reserve. Coslet had been the Bengals' offensive coordinator
and as a result of the similarities Kattus was familiar with the Jets' offensive scheme. Kattus was cut when Mitchell and Siupeli Malamala
were reactivated four weeks later.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
who played primarily for the Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL). He also played briefly with the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the NFL. He had played in college for the Michigan Wolverines football
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
team where he served as captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
of the team during the 1985 season. He was also a member of the 1982 Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
Champions.
College
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, where he redshirt
Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...
ted one year and was a varsity letter
Varsity letter
A varsity letter is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its winner was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.- Description :...
man for four, while wearing the #81. As a second year senior, he was a member of the 1982 Big Ten Champions who went to the Rose Bowl. At the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
he earned All Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
honors in his senior season. He was captain and started all 12 games for Bo Schembechler
Bo Schembechler
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, Jr. was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of Michigan from 1969 to 1989, compiling a career record of 234–65–8...
's Michigan team that ended the season ranked #2 in both the A.P.
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and U.P.I.
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
polls after a Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers
Nebraska Cornhuskers football
The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
gave them a 10-1-1 record for the season. Kattus caught eight touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s for the Wolverines among his 38 receptions
Reception (American football)
In American football, a reception is part of a play in which a forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage is received by a player in bounds, who, after the catch, proceeds to either score a touchdown or be downed. Yards gained from the receiving play are credited to the player as receiving...
for 582 yards. Each of the three times he caught six passes that season he scored at least one touchdown and twice he scored two. In another game where he caught five passes, he had his only 100 yard game with 123 yards and a touchdown. His senior season was quite a progression from his previous seasons, which totaled seven receptions for 60 yards and two touchdowns.
Professional career
Kattus was drafted in the fourth round of the 1986 NFL Draft1986 NFL Draft
The 1986 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986...
by the his hometown Cincinnati Bengals with the 91st pick overall. He played for the Bengals for the first six years of his NFL career from 1986
1986 NFL season
The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos to win their first league title in 30 years.-Major rule changes:...
to 1991
1991 NFL season
The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills....
. During that time he had modest success with his best season being 1987
1987 NFL season
The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, but the games for weeks 4–6 were played with replacement players...
when he totaled 217 receiving yards on 18 receptions with two touchdowns. He also played on special teams and fielded an occasional squib kickoff return. In his six years Bengals won two American Football Conference
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
central division championships (1988
1988 NFL season
The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri to the Phoenix, Arizona area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division....
&1990
1990 NFL season
The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League. To increase revenue, the league changed the regular season so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period...
). In 1988, they won the conference championship but lost to the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
in Super Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII
Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...
. The Bengal playoff run that season was best remembered for the Ickey Shuffle. Kattus was not on the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
gameday roster. The Bengals also had winning season in his rookie year, going 10-6 but missing the playoffs. The Bengals did not have winning records in any of his other season with the team.
Kattus spent his entire Bengals career in the shadow of fellow tight end Rodney Holman
Rodney Holman
Rodney Holman is a former professional American football player who played tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals , and the Detroit Lions . Holman graduated from Ypsilanti High School in 1978 where he starred on the football team and was an all-state wrestler...
who played for the Bengals from 1982
1982 NFL season
The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule...
to 1992
1992 NFL season
The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League.Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots–Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was rescheduled to October 18. Both teams originally had that...
and went to the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
three consecutive years from 1988
1988 NFL season
The 1988 NFL season was the 69th regular season of the National Football League. The Cardinals relocated from St. Louis, Missouri to the Phoenix, Arizona area becoming the Phoenix Cardinals but remained in the NFC East division....
to 1990
1990 NFL season
The 1990 NFL season was the 71st regular season of the National Football League. To increase revenue, the league changed the regular season so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period...
. The only season during Kattus' Bengals tenure that Holman did not play all 16 regular season games was the season Kattus had his best year. The Bengals played five playoff games during Kattus' years in Cincinnati, but Kattus only caught a pass in one. He in fact caught two passes for nineteen yards and a touchdown in the first round Wild Card game of the 1990-91 NFL playoffs
NFL playoffs, 1990-91
The NFL playoffs following the 1990 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXV.The league expanded its playoff system from a 10-team to a 12-team tournament...
against the Houston Oilers.
He saw no passes as a member of Bruce Coslet
Bruce Coslet
Bruce Coslet is a former American college and professional football player and professional football coach. A tight end, he played for the University of the Pacific and in 1969 debuted with the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals...
' 4-12 1992 New York Jets in his final season. Kattus signed with the Jets after Johnny Mitchell
Johnny Mitchell
Johnny Mitchell, Jr. is a former professional American football tight end in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys...
was placed on injured reserve. Coslet had been the Bengals' offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
and as a result of the similarities Kattus was familiar with the Jets' offensive scheme. Kattus was cut when Mitchell and Siupeli Malamala
Siupeli Malamala
Siupeli Malamala is a former professional American football offensive lineman. He played offensive tackle and offensive guard in the NFL for the New York Jets from 1992–1999...
were reactivated four weeks later.
External links
- Eric Kattus at nfl.com