James Jackson "Red" Phillips (February 5, 1936 – March 25, 2015) 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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for 10 seasons with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

and the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of 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) from 1958 to 1967. He was a three-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

er as a Ram from 1960 to 1962 and was a first-team

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in 1961. Phillips played

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for the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

. He was named a

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his senior year at Auburn, when he was co-

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of their 1957 national championship team.

NFL career

As a rookie in 1958, Phillips led the NFL with the longest reception for that season: 93 yards. In 1961, he led the NFL in total receptions with 78 and ranked third in the league with 1,092 receiving yards.

Post NFL

After leaving the NFL, Phillips held coaching positions with the Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints, and

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. He later ran a successful insurance business and was appointed to the Alabama Department of Insurance. Phillips was inducted into Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. In 2004, Phillips was named Auburn's SEC Football Legend for the SEC Championship Game of that year.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Personal life

Phillips married "Mickey" Kennedy in 1957. They had three children. Phillips died on March 25, 2015, at Bethany House (Hospice) in Auburn.

References

1936 births 2015 deaths All-American college football players American football wide receivers Atlanta Falcons coaches Auburn Tigers football players Los Angeles Rams players Minnesota Vikings players Western Conference Pro Bowl players People from Alexander City, Alabama Players of American football from Tallapoosa County, Alabama {{widereceiver-1930s-stub