Sidney Arthur Justin, sometimes spelled Sydney Justin (born August 14, 1954), is an American former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, singer and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

. He played for 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 ...

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

, and

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...

after playing

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 Los Angeles Southwest and Long Beach State. He also played for the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

Southern California Rhinos and was briefly with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

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 ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, as well as the Los Angeles Express of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). Following his football career, Justin was a member of several vocal groups, including

Shalamar Shalamar () is an American R&B and soul music vocal group created by Dick Griffey and Don Cornelius in 1977 and active throughout the 1980s. Shalamar's classic lineup on the SOLAR label consisted of Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffrey D ...

and

The Miracles The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...

Early life and education

Justin was born on August 14, 1954, in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He attended

Crenshaw High School Crenshaw High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located on 11th Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls arou ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, being a

gymnast Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

rather than a

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. Justin started attending

Los Angeles Southwest College Los Angeles Southwest College (LASC) is a public community college in the unincorporated area of West Athens, California in Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District and its service area include ...

in 1973 after his graduation from Crenshaw and was convinced by his friends to begin playing football. He was a starter as both a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

and sophomore, before transferring to Long Beach State in 1975. He saw extensive playing time in his first year at Long Beach State and became a starter for his senior season. Justin was named All-

Pacific Coast Athletic Association The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

in his last year at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

Professional football and coaching career

Justin went unselected in the

1977 NFL draft The 1977 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 3–4, 1977, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

. He spent the entire 1977 season as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. In 1978, he trained with several

players and one of them convinced the team to give Justin an invite to the spring minicamp. The team had many

s at the time and one coach suggested that Justin go to play for the

Southern California Rhinos, which he did for the season. His performance there led him to receive interest again from the Rams, and they signed him for the 1979 season after buying out his rights from the Rhinos for $1,500. Justin was considered a long shot to make the team, but impressed in preseason for his talent in man-to-man coverage and quickness. Ultimately, however, he was one of five released at the final roster cuts in August. Shortly after, at the start of September, he was re-signed due to an injury to Jeff Severson. Justin went on to appear in 13 games for the Rams that year, recording one

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

and making an 80-yard blocked

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

return

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 ...

, the only score of his career, before being placed on injured reserve in mid-December due to a pulled

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

suffered on the blocked field goal return. While he was on injured reserve, the Rams went on to be runners-up in

Super Bowl XIV Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1979 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. Justin was waived by the Rams on August 13, 1980, and was then claimed by the

. He was waived by Tampa Bay on August 25. He traveled to Canada and signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) on September 6. Justin played two games for the Blue Bombers, posting one interception return for two yards before being released at the end of the month. Justin returned to the NFL and signed with the

in February 1981. He was placed on injured reserve on August 17 and was released on August 31. He joined the

for the 1982 season. Justin made the team and was the starting right cornerback to begin the season. He appeared in a total of five games, two as a starter, before suffering a cracked vertebrae which sidelined him for the rest of the season. Justin was waived by the Colts in March 1983. Justin had a brief stint with the

after being waived by the Colts, but was released in July. In October, he was signed by the Los Angeles Express of the

(USFL) for the 1984 season, joining his brother Tyrone who also played for the Express. He was released on January 21, 1984. After ending his playing career, Justin became a coach. He began as an assistant to Harold Daniels at Harbor Junior College, before becoming a coach at Westchester High School in Los Angeles. He subsequently served two years as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

at Granada Hills High School before accepting a position as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the semi-professional Ventura Cardinals. The Cardinals folded after one season, and Justin then went to Taft High School as defensive backs coach, helping them reach the city championship. In 2012, Justin became one of many former players to file lawsuits against the NFL for

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

-related injuries.

Music career

Justin liked music from a young age, and participated in several talent shows in high school. After high school, he worked for a time with singer

Candi Staton Canzetta Maria "Candi" Staton (, ) (born March 13, 1940) is an American singer–songwriter, best known in the United States for her 1970 cover of Tammy Wynette's " Stand by Your Man" and her 1976 disco chart-topper " Young Hearts Run Free". In E ...

and performed for several movie soundtracks, including the songs " Shout" and " Shama Lama Ding Dong" in ''

Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller (writer), Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Tom ...

''. He auditioned for the vocal group

in 1978 and was given the job, but turned it down to continue his football career. He also worked with Hawk Wolinski in producing the soundtrack for ''

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

''. During his football career, Justin would sing and write songs during the offseason, and was able to do it full-time after his retirement from the sport. He was part of the songwriting team Sylverspoon Productions, working with artists and groups including

Leon Sylvers III Leon Frank Sylvers III (born March 7, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, disc-jockey, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was a member of the family group The Sylvers and became one of the most successful producers in Black mus ...

, Glen Jones, Lakeside,

The Whispers The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

and

. He went on to join Shalamar soon afterwards as their lead singer, replacing

Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Jr. (born October 1, 1955) is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He si ...

in 1987. Justin worked with Babyface and L.A. in producing the album ''

Circumstantial Evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact, such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly, i.e., without need ...

'', which featured the song " Love's Grown Deep" that placed number one on charts in Asia for five months. Justin received various different producing and songwriting positions afterwards. He produced for the soundtrack of the film ''

Lambada Lambada () is a dance from the state of Pará in Brazil. The dance briefly became internationally popular in the 1980s, especially in the Philippines, Latin America and Caribbean, Caribbean countries. It has adopted aspects of dances such as Maxi ...

'', working with Tony Terry for the song "Tease Me, Please Me." He also sung in

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer of new jack swing: a fusion of hip-hop and Contemporary R&B, R ...

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

hits "

Every Little Step "Every Little Step" is a 1989 single by American singer Bobby Brown, written by L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and released by MCA Records. Released as the fourth single on his second album '' Don't Be Cruel'' it reached number three ...

" and "

Rock Wit'cha "Rock Wit'cha" is the fifth and final single released by Bobby Brown from the album '' Don't Be Cruel''. An R&B ballad, there are two versions of the song; the album version from ''Don't Be Cruel'' and the remix version from '' Dance!...Ya Know I ...

." Justin performed in concerts with various other groups, including

The Gap Band The Gap Band was an American Contemporary R&B, R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie Wilson (musician), Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it wa ...

, Zapp,

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

, and

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including " Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", " Wishing on a Star", and " Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career ...

. In 1990, Justin wrote, produced, and performed half of the album '' Wake Up'', the last album recorded by Shalamar before disbanding. In 1993, Justin joined The Miracles and after several concerts was introduced as lead singer. He has performed with them at numerous locations over many years, later being joined by his brother Kerry. He and The Miracles have made appearances on various television shows, including ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', ''

George & Alana ''George & Alana'' (also called ''The George & Alana Show'' or ''G&A'') is an American daytime talk show that aired in broadcast syndication from September 18, 1995, to March 29, 1996, and was hosted by actor George Hamilton and his former wife ...

'', ''

Home & Family ''Home & Family'' (formerly ''The Home and Family Show'') is an American daytime talk show. The series originally premiered on April 1, 1996, on The Family Channel, and was dropped by the network immediately prior to its 1998 relaunch as the Fo ...

'', ''The

Pat Bullard Patrick Bullard is a Canadian- American television writer, host, producer and comedian. Biography Born in Mississauga, Ontario, Bullard's elder brother was comedian Mike Bullard and his older half-brother is Downchild Blues Band lead singer ...

Show'', and '' Donny & Marie'', among others. The National Football League has had Justin sing ''

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...

'' on several occasions prior to games.

Later and personal life

Justin is also an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

; he attended

Otis Art Institute Otis College of Art and Design is a Private university, private Art school, art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is l ...

and was taught by Charles W. White and Ernie Barnes. His work has been featured at several exhibits. Justin is a brother of USFL defensive back Tyrone Justin, NFL and USFL defensive back Kerry Justin, and the father of CFL and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

defensive back Airabin Justin. He and Tyrone appeared as extras in the television series '' 1st & Ten''. Justin published a book on how to play defensive back, titled ''The Lost Art'', in June 2016. He is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Justin, Sid 1954 births Living people American football defensive backs Baltimore Colts players Buffalo Bills players Kansas City Chiefs players Long Beach State 49ers football players Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks football coaches Los Angeles Express players Los Angeles Rams players Los Angeles Southwest Cougars football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Shalamar members The Miracles members High school football coaches in California Crenshaw High School alumni Otis College of Art and Design alumni Players of American football from Los Angeles Players of American football from New Orleans Singers from Louisiana Singers from Los Angeles Songwriters from California Songwriters from Louisiana