Eric Quinn Metcalf (born January 23, 1968) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers.

His father Terry was a three time Pro Bowl running back for the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Argonauts and Washington Redskins.

[1] He lived with his father, who just finished his NFL career with the Redskins, and who helped coach the football team.

In 1983, he led the O'Connell Knights to the state championship, rushing for over 1000 yards, scoring 24 touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams and being named all-Met, the DC area player of the year and a Catholic All-American an made the Washington Metropolitan All-Scholastic team.

[3] He still has the seventh longest distance ever posted indoors by an American high schooler with a jump of 7.75 meters.

[11] In track, he was a four-time All-American and set the University of Texas at Austin's long jump record (still current) at 8.44 meters (27'8"1/4).

He earned the distinction of being a five-time All-American and in 1988 competed in the USA Olympic Trials, finishing 8th overall.

He suffered an injury in 1991 that limited to only 8 games, but notable new coach Bill Belichick had him start returning punts.

In 1993 he led the league in all-purpose yards, was First Team All-Pro as both a kickoff returner and punt returner, made the Pro Bowl and was the AFC NFL Players Association Special Teams Player of the Year.

At the end of the season, the Chargers traded Metcalf, Patrick Sapp, the third and 33rd pick in the 1998 NFL draft and their 1999 first-round pick to move up one spot to draft Ryan Leaf, often considered one of the worst trades in franchise history.

After one season with the Cardinals, Metcalf was signed and released by the Baltimore Ravens during the summer and fall of 1999.

This gave him a total of 17,230 all-purpose yards, ranking him 9th among at the time of his retirement (he had been as high as 7th earlier in his career).

Metcalf's 10 punt return touchdowns were an NFL record, until October 2, 2011, when Hester broke it against the Panthers.

As of 2023, he has been a Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee eight times, but never made it to semi-finalist.

He also started an elite high school track and field club called Seatown Express.