Frederick Douglas France Jr. (April 26, 1953 – April 8, 2016) was an American professional football player who was a tackle for eight 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 ...

(NFL), primarily with the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tre ...

Football career

France attended and played football at Colonel White High School in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

. France played tight end for

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

(1971–74). France was drafted in the first round as the 20th pick in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams after the team selected

Dennis Harrah Dennis Wayne Harrah (born March 9, 1953) is a former offensive lineman who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football for the University of Miami. He played for and graduated fro ...

with the 11th pick. France played for the Los Angeles Rams for seven years and went 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 ...

for two straight years (1977–78). Then France spent one season with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

in 1983. After retiring from the NFL he attempted to become an actor before becoming a high school offensive line coach at La Quinta High School, Westminster, CA. He died on April 8, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

References

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* 1953 births 2016 deaths Players of American football from Dayton, Ohio American football offensive tackles Ohio State Buckeyes football players Los Angeles Rams players Houston Oilers players National Conference Pro Bowl players {{offensive-lineman-1950s-stub