James Edward Stiger (January 7, 1941 – December 12, 1981) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Early life

Stiger attended Corcoran High School, before moving on to

Bakersfield Junior College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 31,000 students each semester or 46,500 annually, and offers associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community C ...

, where he helped his team reach the Little Rose Bowl. He transferred to the

after his sophomore season in 1961. As a junior, he played as a fullback, registering 582 rushing yards, 4.5-yard average, 33 receiving yards and one receiving

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. As a senior, he was switched to halfback behind

Junior Coffey Junior Lee Coffey (March 21, 1942 – August 30, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, and New York Giants. Early life Born ...

, posting as a backup 229 rushing yards, 4.8-yard average, 2 rushing touchdowns, 52 receiving yards and one receiving

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Stiger was selected by the

in the 19th round (258th overall) of the

1963 NFL draft The 1963 NFL draft was held at the Sheraton in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, December 3, 1962. The first overall selection was quarterback Terry Baker of Oregon State, the Heisman Trophy winner, taken by the Los Angeles Rams. The AFL draft wa ...

. As a rookie, he was the starting fullback in 3 games, while leading the team in kickoff and punt returns, including a 45-yard punt return (at the time second longest in club history). He finished 10th in the league with 573 combined kickoff and punt return yards. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, he started 8 games at both fullback and halfback. He served mainly as a backup to

Amos Marsh Amos Marsh Jr. (May 7, 1939 – November 2, 1992) was a professional American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. He played college football at Oregon State University. Early ye ...

, until being waived on November 3,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, to make room for punter

Colin Ridgway Colin Edwin Ridgway (19 February 1937 – 13 May 1993) was an American football punter distinguished as being the first Australian to play in the National Football League (NFL). He also competed in the high jump at the 1956 Summer Olympics. ...

, the first

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n to play in the

Los Angeles Rams

On November 6,

, he was signed by the

to help improve the return game. In

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, he was the fourth leading punt returner in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. He was released on September 17,

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, after arriving out of shape to training camp.

Personal life

On December 12, 1981, he died of a heart attack while playing

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiger, Jim 1941 births 1981 deaths People from Corcoran, California Players of American football from Kings County, California American football running backs Bakersfield Renegades football players Washington Huskies football players Dallas Cowboys players Los Angeles Rams players Sports deaths in California