Leslie Herbert "Speedy" Duncan (August 10, 1942 – December 9, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) and

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 ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of stude ...

. Duncan played seven seasons with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

, where he was a three-time

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...

. He was also named to the

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

with the

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) ...

. Duncan was inducted into the

Chargers Hall of Fame The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL) based in the Los Angeles Area. The club began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), and spent its first seas ...

and was named to their 40th and 50th anniversary teams.

Playing career

Duncan was a standout player at

Druid High School Druid High School, originally Industrial City High School was a senior high school for black students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and a part of Tuscaloosa City Schools. The school had black children from all social classes. The instruction emphasized ...

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of ...

. He attended

, where he played for the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

Undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

, he played with the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

from 1964 through 1969, and the

NFL 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 maj ...

Chargers in 1970 and

from 1971 through 1974. He was an

in 1965, 1966, and 1967 and an AFC-NFC

er in 1971. He led the AFL in punt return average in consecutive seasons, averaging 15.5 yards per return in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime 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 Lyndo ...

and 13.2 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 is ...

. As a rookie with the Chargers 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 Patriarc ...

, Duncan played just a little on defense at

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

before becoming a starter at

the following year in

in place of an injured

Dick Westmoreland Richard Carl Westmoreland (born February 17, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the American Football League (NFL). In 1963, he joined the AFL's San Diego Chargers. He played for the Chargers and ...

. Playing in Washington under coach

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

, Duncan became a

nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

, backing up

Pat Fischer Patrick Fischer (born January 2, 1940) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1961 to 1967, and the Washington Redskins from 1968 to 1977. Fischer attended Westside Hig ...

and

Mike Bass Michael Thomas Bass (born March 31, 1945) is a former American football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) as a cornerback for the Washington Redskins from 1969 through 1975. He appeared in 104 consecutive games for the Reds ...

, while also returning punts and kickoffs. He led the NFL in punt return average at 10.6 yards per return 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 ...

. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

, he was solely a returner, playing in just two games. Duncan was inducted into the

and was named to their 40th and 50th anniversary teams. His 21

interception In ball-playing 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 a player of the same team ...

s with the Chargers rank seventh in team history. He had three in one game against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

in 1966, which is tied for the franchise's single-game record. Duncan averaged 12.0 yards per punt return with the Chargers, with career averages of 10.9 on punt returns and 25.2 on kickoffs.

Later years

After his playing career, Duncan returned to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and dabbled in the restaurant business. He also taught at local schools, later moving to Stockton, California, where he was a health and physical education teacher at Webster Middle School. On December 9, 2021, Duncan died at the age of 79.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Speedy 1942 births 2021 deaths American Football League All-Star players American Football League players American football cornerbacks American football return specialists Jackson State Tigers football players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Alabama San Diego Chargers players Sportspeople from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Washington Redskins players Schoolteachers from California

Playing career

Later years

See also

References

External links