Jim Spavital

No. 76

Position:

FB / LB

Personal information

Date of birth:

September 15, 1926

Place of birth:

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Date of death:

March 7, 1993 (aged 66)

Career information

College:

Oklahoma A&M

NFL draft:

1948 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11
(By the Chicago Cardinals)

Career history

Career NFL statistics

Player stats at NFL.com

James J. Spavital (September 15, 1926 – March 7, 1993) was a gridiron football fullback, coach and general manager in six different professional football leagues.

Playing career

He played for the All-America Football Conference's Los Angeles Dons in 1949 and the National Football League's Baltimore Colts during the 1950 season. As a starter in 1950 he had 246 rushing yards and 238 receiving. His 96 yard rush against the Green Bay Packers on November 5, 1950 is the fourth longest run from scrimmage in NFL history. As an Airborne reservist, Jim was called up in 1951 to serve in the Korean Conflict . His reporting date prevented him from playing a full NFL season so he moved north of the border to play for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League enabling him to play a complete season prior to reporting for duty. Wear and tear on his feet effectively ended his playing career. He was also drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 1951 NFL Draft after the Baltimore Colts folded.^[1]

Coaching career

In 1957 he joined the Oklahoma State coaching staff under coach Cliff Speegle. In 1967 he joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders as an assistant. In 1970 he was hired by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as head coach. In four seasons as Bombers head coach, he had a 23-39-2 record and two playoff appearances.

In 1974 he was hired as head coach of the Chicago Fire of the World Football League. The team finished 7-13 and folded after the season.

In 1975 he joined the New York Jets, coaching the offensive backfield. The following season he again coached the offensive backfield coach for San Francisco 49ers coach Monte Clark.

In 1977 he returned to the CFL as an assistant coach with the Calgary Stampeders, rejoining a fellow assistant from Saskatchewan, Jack Gotta. In 1981 he was hired as general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

He left the Roughriders after the season to join the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League. In the league's first year, the Panthers won the USFL championship, defeating the Philadelphia Stars 24-22. On September 9, 1983 he resigned his post as Panthers GM. In 1989 Spavital was hired by Bill and Hubie Byrne to help put together a new professional football league to begin play in the spring or summer of 1990. Spavital was the director of football operations for the Professional Spring Football League for two years before plans for the league were abandoned.

Jim's son Steve is the head coach at Broken Arrow Senior High in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Spavital is also the grandfather of Texas A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital and Texas Tech cornerbacks coach Zac Spavital.

References

↑ "Pro Football Draft History: 1951". profootballhof.com. Retrieved September 17, 2014.

External links

Jim Spavital at Find a Grave

1948 NFL draft first-round selections

Harry Gilmer Skip Minisi Bobby Layne Lowell Tew Vaughn Mancha Y. A. Tittle Earl Girard Clyde Scott Dan Edwards Max Bumgardner Jim Spavital

Washington Redskins 1950 AAFC Dispersal Draft selections

Jim Spavital Chuck Drazenovich Roland Dale Lloyd Eisenberg Hardy Brown Ed Hirsch Ed Smith Murray Alexander Dewey Nelson

Draft years 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1950 AAFC 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

1951 NFL draft first-round selections

Kyle Rote Bob Williams Y. A. Tittle Leon Heath Bob Gain Jerry Groom Ebert Van Buren Chet Mutryn Butch Avinger Billy Stone Bud McFadin Gene Schroeder Jim Spavital Ken Konz

Saskatchewan Roughriders general managers

Clair Warner (1946–1949)
Greg Grassick (1950)
Clair Warner (1951–1952)
Frank Filchock (1953)
Dean Griffing (1954–1957)
Ken Preston (1958–1977)
Henry Dorsch (1978–1980)
Jim Spavital (1981–1982)
John Herrera (1983–1984)
Bill Quinter (1985–1986)
Bill Baker (1987–1988)
Alan Ford (1989–1999)
Roy Shivers (2000–2005)
Eric Tillman (2006–2008)
Brendan Taman (2010–2015)
Jeremy O'Day # (2015)
Chris Jones (2016-)

Pound sign (#) denotes interim general manager.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coaches

Fred Ritter (1924–1929)
Jack Millidge (1930)
Pete Barnes (1931)
Carl Cronin (1932–1933)
Greg Kabat (1934)
Bob Fritz (1935–1937)
Reg Threlfall (1938–1944)
Bert Warwick (1945)
Charles A. West (1946–1948)
Frank Larson (1949–1950)
George Trafton (1951–1953)
Allie Sherman (1954–1956)
Bud Grant (1957–1966)
Joe Zaleski (1967–1969)
Jim Spavital (1970–1973)
Bud Riley (1974–1977)
Ray Jauch (1978–1982)
Cal Murphy (1983–1986)
Mike Riley (1987–1990)
Darryl Rogers (1991)
Urban Bowman (1992)
Cal Murphy (1993–1996)
Jeff Reinebold (1997–1998)
Gary Hoffman # (1998)
Dave Ritchie (1999–2004)
Jim Daley (2004–2005)
Doug Berry (2006–2008)
Mike Kelly (2009)
Paul LaPolice (2010–2012)
Tim Burke (2012–2013)
Mike O'Shea (2014– )

Pound sign (#) denotes interim head coach.

Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals first-round draft picks

Lawrence Buivid Robbins Aldrich Cafego Kimbrough Lach Dobbs Harder Trippi Jones Coulter Spavital Fischer Groom Matson Olszewski McHan Boydston Childress Tubbs Hill Crow Stacy Izo Rice Echols Goode Stovall Brumm Kortas Namath McAdams Williams Lane Wehrli Stegent Thompson Moore Butz Cain Gray Dawson Pisarkiewicz Little Greene Anderson Greer Junior Sharpe Smith Duncan Nunn Bell Stouffer Harvey Hill Wolf Swann Hearst Dye Miller Rice Knight Wadsworth Boston Shelton Jones Davis Bryant Johnson Pace Fitzgerald Rolle Leinart Brown Rodgers-Cromartie Wells Williams Peterson Floyd Cooper Bucannon Humphries

AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI LA SF SEA

New York Giants first-round draft picks

A. Lewis E. Widseth G. Karamatic W. Nielsen G. Lansdell G. Franck M. Hapes S. Filipowicz B. Hillenbrand E. Barbour G. Connor V. Schwall T. Minisi P. Page T. Tidwell K. Rote J. Spavital F. Gifford B. Marlow J. Heap P. King L. Grosscup L. Cordileone J. Hillebrand J. Looney T. Frederickson F. Peay F. Dryer J. Files R. Thompson E. Small L. Jacobson J. Hicks T. Archer G. Jeter G. King P. Simms M. Haynes L. Taylor B. Woolfork T. Kinard C. Banks W. Roberts G. Adams E. Dorsey M. Ingram E. Moore B. Williams R. Hampton J. Bunch D. Brown T. Lewis T. Wheatley C. Jones I. Hilliard S. Williams L. Petitgout R. Dayne W. Allen J. Shockey W. Joseph P. Rivers M. Kiwanuka A. Ross K. Phillips H. Nicks J. Pierre-Paul P. Amukamara D. Wilson J. Pugh O. Beckham E. Flowers

AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI LA SF SEA

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