Ester James Junior III (born December 8, 1959) is an American former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. He played professionally as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

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) for 13 seasons, from 1981 to 1993, St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals,

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

, and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. Junior played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Alabama Crimson, earning consensus selection to the

1980 College Football All-America Team The 1980 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1980. The NCAA recognizes four selectors as "official" ...

. He was selected by the Cardinals in the first round with the fifth overall pick of the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 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 April 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

. Junior served as the head football coach at

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for te ...

Wilberforce, Ohio Wilberforce is a census-designated place (CDP) in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,271 at the 2010 census, up from 1,579 at the 2000 census. History After Wilberforce College was established in 1856, the community was a ...

from 2009 to 2013. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a player in 2020.

Early years and family

Junior was born in

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...

and grew up in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. He and his wife, Yolanda, have eight children: Shandon Hood, Torren Hood, Ashley James, Adam J. Junior, Aja J Junior, E.J. Junior IV, Kyle E. Junior, and Cameron M. Junior.

Playing career

College

Junior attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, where he played for coach

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

's Alabama Crimson Tide football team from 1977 to 1980, wearing jersey number 39. In the 1979 opener against Georgia Tech, he returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown. He finished the season with 5 sacks, 52 tackles, and a blocked punt. As a senior in 1980, he produced 71 tackles and blocked a field goal. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. Junior was a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity at Alabama.

Professional

The St. Louis Cardinals chose Junior in the first round (fifth pick overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft, and he played for Cardinals from to . He was a two-time

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 ...

selection for the Cardinals in and . He subsequently played for the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks.

Coaching career

Since leaving the NFL, Junior has been the executive director of youth programs in Miami under the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

. He also spent time back in the NFL as a coach and in the front office. He was the Seattle Seahawks linebacker coach in 1994 and then was the director of player development programs for the Miami Dolphins from 1996-1998. He has been a minority intern coach for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

(2003) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2005) and coached in

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

for the Rhein Fire in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany. On the college setting, he coached the linebackers at the

East–West Shrine Bowl The East–West Shrine Bowl is a postseason college football all-star game that has been played annually since 1925; through the January 2019 playing, it was known as the East–West Shrine Game. The game is sponsored by the fraternal group Shr ...

in 2005 and 200 . From 2006 to 2009, Junior was the linebackers coach at

Southwest Baptist University Southwest Baptist University (SBU) is a private Baptist university in Bolivar, Missouri. It is affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention, which is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2019, it had a total enrollment of 3,280 student ...

in Bolivar, Missouri. He was promoted to

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

in February 2009, but left a month later to become head coach at

. From 2015 to 2017, he was the defensive line coach at

Delaware State University Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The university encompasses four col ...

.
Delaware State Football

Honors

In May 2012, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and into the Tennessee Hall of Fame 2010. He made the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2007. Junior was nominated for the

in 2016 but fell short in votes. He was again nominated in June 2017. On March 11, 2020, the College Football Hall of Fame announced the Junior as a member of the 2020 class of inductees.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Junior, E. J. 1959 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers Alabama Crimson Tide football players Central State Marauders football coaches Delaware State Hornets football coaches Miami Dolphins players Phoenix Cardinals players Rhein Fire coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches Seattle Seahawks players Southwest Baptist Bearcats football coaches St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Salisbury, North Carolina Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee Coaches of American football from Tennessee African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople