James Douglas Elmore (December 15, 1939 – June 28, 2002) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

punter in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

Early life

Elmore attended and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Pickens County High School in Reform, Alabama. He received Alabama All-State and Class A "Back of the Year" honors in 1956 when he served as the team's captain. Elmore earned three

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and

College career

Football

Elmore attended and played

at the

, during which the Rebels posted a 29-3-1 record. He was also a member of Rebels when they won a share of the national championship in 1959 and 1960 and played in two

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

s (

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

) and one

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...

(

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

). During his senior year in 1961, Elmore completed 50-of-84 passes (59.5 percent) for 741 yards and six touchdowns, and ranked second on team in rushing with 345 yards on 77 carries (4.5 average) with three touchdowns. He also recorded two pass interceptions for 76 yards, averaged 32.3 yards on 24 punts, returned one kickoff for 18 yards and averaged 6.5 yards on four punt returns. In 1961, Elmore helped lead Ole Miss to a 9-2 record that season and was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

first-team selection. He received

All-Southeastern Conference The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

second-team honors from

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and

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, and also earned Academic All-America and Academic All-SEC accolades in 1961. Following the season, Elmore played in the 1962 Coaches Association All-America Bowl. For his career, Elmore completed 82-of-139 passes for 1,216 yards and 11 touchdowns, and his 59.0 completion percentage still ranks fourth best in Ole Miss history. He had 1,827 career total offense yards (611 rushing, 1,216 passing) on 275 plays, averaging 6.64 yards per play. The 6.64 yard-per-play average still ranks fourth best all-time at Ole Miss. Elmore also accounted for 22 touchdowns.

Baseball

Elmore also played baseball for the Rebels as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

and helped Ole Miss win 1960 Southeastern Conference championship. He earned All-SEC and All-SEC Western Division baseball honors in 1961.

Professional career

Elmore was drafted in the thirteenth round of the

1961 NFL draft The 1961 NFL draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dall ...

by the

. He was also selected in the 31st round of the

1961 AFL Draft The 1961 American Football League draft, was held in 1960 because another league was in competition for the class of 1961 college stars, the American Football League draft for 1961 graduates. A six-round telephone draft was held on November 21 an ...

by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He played for the Redskins during the 1962 season and in the CFL for the

during the 1963 season.

After football

Elmore was an assistant coach for one year at

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it beca ...

, then was the vice president of Boyles Moak Brickell Marchetti Insurance, Inc.

Personal

Elmore had a wife, Linda; a son, Jimmy; a daughter, Sharon Duncan; and four grandchildren.

References

External links

*
D. Elmore, 63; Ole Miss Football Star
from

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elmore, Doug 1939 births 2002 deaths American football punters American football quarterbacks Ole Miss Rebels football players People from Reform, Alabama Washington Redskins players