Thursday, November 1, 2007

FORMER PIONEER RICARDO COLCLOUGH CLAIMED BY CLEVELAND BROWNS

CLEVELAND, Ohio --- The Cleveland Browns have claimed former Tusculum College cornerback Ricardo Colclough via waivers announced team officials. Colclough was waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday.

Colclough was the Steelers' second-round choice in the 2004 NFL Draft and was a key backup and special teams player over the last three seasons.

Colclough (pronounced Coke-lee) had one interception, 33 tackles and 28 special teams tackles in 36 games with the Steelers.

He returned a pair of kickoffs in Super Bowl XL, averaged 21.7 yards on 49 career kick returns and also has five career punt returns. He played in only three games last year due to a neck injury and played in three games this year before being released.

Colclough played two seasons with the Pioneers (2002-03) and was a consensus All-American by six organizations in 2003, including the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, Football Gazette, D2football.com and Dopke.com. He was named the Football Gazette’s Division II National Defensive Back of the Year. He was the only Division II player invited to play in the Senior Bowl, where he earned the North Squad’s Most Valuable Defensive Player Award. He helped lead Tusculum to a 9-2 record in 2003, a conference championship, and a No. 19 national ranking.

Colclough, a native of Sumter, S.C., was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award, presented to the most outstanding football player in Division II, and became the highest-drafted SAC football player ever when he was chosen in the second round and the 38^th overall pick of the 2004 NFL draft by the Steelers.

He was also named the 2003-04 South Atlantic Conference Male Athlete of the Year.

Tusculum College, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA, is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of nine colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

- TC -