Jesse Freitas (February 7, 1921 – May 18, 2020) was an American professional

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 ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a major professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many ...

(AAFC). He played for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

Chicago Rockets The Chicago Rockets were an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets. Unlike the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, a ...

and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

His son, Jesse Jr., was also a quarterback 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). After his playing career ended, Freitas became a coach. In 1950, he was hired as the head football coach at Junípero Serra High School in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

. Freitas was appointed head football coach at the

College of San Mateo College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 153-a ...

in 1955, succeeding Duane Whitehead. He was also the head

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 ...

coach at San Mateo before he was fired in March 1958. Freitas returned to Junípero Serra as head football coach in 1960. After two seasons, he left Serra in 1962 to become an assistant football coach at Sunnyvale High School in

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real (California), El Camino Real and U.S. Route 101 in California, Highway 1 ...

. He went back to Serra for a third stint as head football coach in 1965, continuing through the 1974 season. He compiled an overall record of 107–46–3 in 17 seasons at Serra. Freitas died of cancer, at age 99, on May 18, 2020, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Head coaching record

Junior college football

References

1921 births 2020 deaths American football quarterbacks Buffalo Bills (AAFC) players Chicago Rockets players San Francisco 49ers (AAFC) players San Francisco 49ers players San Mateo Bulldogs baseball coaches San Mateo Bulldogs football coaches Santa Clara Broncos football players High school football coaches in California People from Red Bluff, California Sportspeople from Tehama County, California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from California Baseball coaches from California American people of Portuguese descent Deaths from cancer in California {{quarterback-1920s-stub