Junior Lee Coffey (March 21, 1942 – August 30, 2021) 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

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) with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

Early life

Born in

Kyle, Texas Kyle is a city in Hays County, Texas, United States. Its population grew from 28,016 in 2010 to 45,697 in 2020, making it one of Texas' fastest-growing cities. It is part of the Greater Austin area. History As part of railroad expansion alo ...

, Coffey ( ) with 10.2* speed in the 100 (yards), was one of the leading running backs and defensive linebackers in Texas high school football during the 1960s. As a senior in 1960, he rushed for 1,562 yards in 11 games to lead the Dimmitt Bobcat offense. In a bi-district playoff game against Olton during the 1960 season, Coffey carried the ball 34 times for 253 yards and scored both Dimmitt touchdowns despite leg cramps as the Bobcats fell 15-12 to Olton. Coffey became an all-state performer for the Bobcats in football and basketball in the 1960-61 school year. He was previously incorrectly referred to as the first black athlete ever to play in a Texas UIL state basketball tournament in 1959-60. However, Bubba Ephriam, was the first. Ephriam played for Pecos High School starting in 1955 and played as the first black athlete in a Texas UIl Star tournament in 1957-58. As a junior during the 1959 football season, he led the Dimmitt Bobcat offense with 1294 rushing yards on 165 carries and also led the defense with 185 tackles at linebacker.

College career

The

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

did not integrate until

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, so Coffey had to leave the state to play major

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 ...

. He attended 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 ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and played under head coach

Jim Owens James Donald Owens (March 6, 1927 – June 6, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played one year in the National Football League (NFL) as an end for the Baltimore Colts. His career in coaching was longer-lived, as he held the p ...

. With the Huskies, Coffey was a three-time all-conference selection and was tabbed Honorable Mention

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n all three seasons. He finished his career as the second-leading ground gainer in school history.

Professional career

Coffey was selected by the

in the seventh round of the

1965 NFL draft The 1965 NFL draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failure of the St. Loui ...

, and he played on the Packers'

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

team of

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 ...

. After that season, he was selected in the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

for the

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 ...

, and played in Atlanta for seasons, where he averaged 4.0 yards per carry. He missed the entire

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 ...

season with a knee injury and was traded to the

midway through the

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

season, and finished his career there in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, compiling career totals of 2,037 rushing yards on 500 carries, 487 receiving yards on 64 receptions and 15 touchdowns.

After football

After the NFL, Coffey eventually became a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

trainer. His colt Raise the Bluff was the favorite going into the 2007 Longacres Mile Handicap at

Emerald Downs Emerald Downs is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Auburn, Washington, located a half mile east of Washington State Route 167, Highway 167. It is named after Seattle, the Emerald City. History Emerald Downs first opened its doors to race fans on Jun ...

Auburn, Washington Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 United States ...

, but placed second. Coffey died in Auburn, Washington on August 30, 2021, at the age of 79.Former NFL RB, college star Junior Coffey dies at 79
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Junior 1942 births 2021 deaths American football running backs American racehorse trainers Atlanta Falcons players Green Bay Packers players New York Giants players Washington Huskies football players People from Dimmitt, Texas People from Kyle, Texas Players of American football from Hays County, Texas