James Harris (football player)

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James Harris (football player)
Date of birth	July 20, 1947 (age 59)
Place of birth	Monroe, Louisiana
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Grambling
NFL Draft	1969 / Round 8/ Pick 192
Pro Bowls	1
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1969-1971 1972-1976 1977-1982	Buffalo Bills Los Angeles Rams San Diego Chargers

James Harris (born July 20, 1947) is a former NFL quarterback and currently the General Manager and vice president for player personnel of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

1 College Career
2 Pro Career
3 Personal
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] College Career

He played college football for the Grambling State University Tigers from 1965 to 1968. Under the guidance of head coach Eddie Robinson Grambling won or shared all four SWAC titles while Harris was a player and he was named MVP of the 1967 Orange Blossum Classic.

[edit] Pro Career

He was drafted in the eighth round of the 1969 draft by the Buffalo Bills and would soon join fellow rookie O.J. Simpson in the starting backfield. He was the first black player to start a season at quarterback and was also the second black player to start in any game as quarterback in the modern era for a professional football team. Marlin Briscoe of the Denver Broncos was the first in 1968. (Interestingly, a few of Harris's completions in 1969 went to Briscoe, who had been traded to the Bills and converted to a receiver.) After three years with the Bills "Jimmy" (or "Jim") Harris joined the Los Angeles Rams in 1972 and became "James" Harris. A characteristic of all Chuck Knox coached 1970's Rams teams was a quarterback controversy and Harris would split playing time with John Hadl, Ron Jaworski, and Pat Haden in this merry-go-round. After an up and down year in 1976 in which he had the highest passer rating in the NFL (89.8%) and the best individual performance of his career with 436 yards passing in a win against the Miami Dolphins, he was also at the helm when the Rams suffered their first regular season shut out in Los Angeles Coliseum history at the hands of a weak San Francisco 49ers team and ended the season on the bench. In early 1977 he was traded to the San Diego Chargers to make room for Joe Namath (and to free up his #12 jersey for Namath). When he left the Rams he had the highest career completion average of any quarterback in team history (55.4%) and had been an integral part of four straight NFC West Champions. Jolted by the trade and his confidence gone, he played three years for the Chargers without much success and his career petered out at the end of the 1979 season.

[edit] Personal

Known by friends and family as "Shack", he is currently the vice president for player personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has been inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame, the Grambling Athletic Hall of Fame, and Louisiana Sports Hall of fame. He also serves on the NFL subcommittee on college relations.