A former Glynn Academy standout receiver who played on the 1964 State Championship team and was a team captain as a senior in 1966. He went on to play at Austin Peay, where he was one of the most prolific pass receivers in NCAA football history.

 

At Austin Peay, Roberts once caught 20 passes in a single game (Murray State, November 8, 1969). That record stood for six years at all NCAA levels and 20 years as a Division II mark. For his career, Roberts totalled 232 catches for 2,999 yards and 31 touchdowns from 1967-70 — all that during an era when offenses were geared more toward running than passing. 

 

His single-game 20-catch mark stood for 45 years in the Ohio Valley Conference while his career 232 receptions lasted until 2013. Roberts was an All-Ohio Valley Conference choice four times — the first APSU football player to gain such distinction and still only one of two. He was chosen first-team Associated Press Little All-American in 1970 after earning honorable-mention honors twice previously. 

 

Roberts was inducted into the APSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1979 and his No. 84 jersey was officially retired in 1991. He signed a free agent contract with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles after graduating. He later became a highly successful high school football coach in Tennessee, first at Lynchburg High School and then at Franklin County High School from 1979 to 1999, where he had a record of 145 wins and 86 losses. He continues to reside in Nashville, Tenn.