James Allen "Jumpy" Geathers (born June 26, 1960) is a former

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

defensive tackle. At the time of his retirement, he was the only active player who played at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, which discontinued its football program following the 1986 season, making him the last WSU football player to play in the NFL. Geathers was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

with the 42nd overall selection in the second round of the

1984 NFL Draft The 1984 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 1–2, 1984, at the Omni Park Cen ...

Career

He played defensive tackle at

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of stud ...

, and then for thirteen seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(

1984-1989,

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

1990-1993, Atlanta Falcons 1994-1995, and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

1996). He was a part of the Redskins team that won

Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

. At 6' 7" and 290 pounds he was a forceful pass rusher, famous for his "forklift" rush, in which he picked up his blocker and carried him to the quarterback. Despite bad knees later in his career, Geathers played well into his 30s. Geathers' career was cut short when he ruptured his Achilles tendon during training camp with the Denver Broncos and spent the 1997 season on injured reserve, the same year the Broncos would go on to win the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. He retired with 62 sacks in 183 games. Geathers attended Choppee High School located in

Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Lowcountry. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,163. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, ...

References

External links

* 1960 births Living people American football defensive linemen Atlanta Falcons players Denver Broncos players New Orleans Saints players Washington Redskins players Wichita State Shockers football players Players of American football from South Carolina People from Georgetown, South Carolina Ed Block Courage Award recipients Geathers family {{defensive-lineman-1960s-stub