James Victor Cain, Jr. (July 22, 1951 – July 22, 1979) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

who played for the St. Louis Cardinals of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the Colorado Buffaloes and was selected by the Cardinals seventh overall in the 1974 NFL draft.

Professional career

Cain was selected seventh overall in the 1974 NFL draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the Cardinals already having a starting tight end in Jackie Smith, general manager George Boone believed Cain was too good a talent to pass up and decided to draft him anyway to play as Smith's backup. In his first two seasons, Cain played in a total of 28 games with ten starts, totaling 286 yards and two touchdowns, and was also named the Cardinals' rookie of the year in 1974. In

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, Cain became a full-time starting tight end for the Cardinals, starting all 14 games and catching for 400 yards and five touchdowns. He started every game of the 1977 season as well, catching for 328 yards and two touchdowns. In 1978, Jackie Smith joined the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, leaving Cain the top tight end on the Cardinals' roster. However, Cain then suffered an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury in training camp and missed the entirety of the 1978 season. A devout

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, Cain used his time that season to read the

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, and prayed that after recovering from the injury, he would go on to become an All-Pro tight end. As he had hoped, Cain did make a full recovery from his Achilles injury, though he never played another down of NFL football.

Death and legacy

On July 22, 1979, his 28th birthday, at about 8:30 p.m., Cain suddenly collapsed during a no-contact

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practice at Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri. He was revived by CPR and taken to nearby St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died less than two hours later. His death was found to be due to an extremely rare

congenital A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

heart problem, undetectable except by autopsy, which was exacerbated by strenuous exercise. In honor of Cain, the St. Louis Cardinals football team wore black armbands during the 1979 season. Cain's number 88 is retired by the Cardinals.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cain, James Victor 1951 births 1979 deaths American football tight ends Colorado Buffaloes football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Players of American football from Houston Sports deaths in Missouri 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen NFL players with retired numbers