Jack Maylon Simpson (August 20, 1936 – June 3, 1983) was an American collegiate and

Professional Football In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

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 ...

He played at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

and professionally 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. ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and 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 Raide ...

. He was drafted in 1958 by the NFL Washington Redskins, but did not play. He signed as a free agent with the AFL's Broncos in 1961. He was the

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 ...

of 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 as ...

in 1972Devaney Selected Top Coach in '71
/ref> Simpson began his pro career in Canada with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

, playing 42 games from 1958 to 1961. He was an all-star in 1958 and 1960, and was runner up for the

CFL's Most Outstanding Lineman Award The Most Outstanding Lineman Award was an award annually given to the best defensive player or offensive lineman in the Canadian Football League from the year 1955 to 1973. By the 1974 season, the league decided to make two separate awards for bot ...

in 1958. Jackie also played briefly with the Calgary Stampeders in 1961, but left to finish the season with Denver. Following his AFL career with Denver and Oakland, Simpson went back to the CFL in 1965, and played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and completed the season with the Toronto Argonauts. Jackie served as an AFL scout in 1966, and after the AFL-NFL merger, he was rehired by the San Diego Chargers to work in the personnel department. Sid Gillman found Simpson to be a valuable asset, and hired him as a linebacker coach in 1967. He remained in that position for 5 years, and then in 1972 was hired as the Houston Oilers defensive coordinator. Jackie left Houston to spend one year (1973) as linebacker coach with the St. Louis Cardinals. Simpson was rehired by the San Diego Chargers as defensive coordinator in 1974, and held that position for 7 years. The team was very successful, and made the playoffs in 1979 and 1980, including the January 1981 AFC championship game. Jackie Simpson coached for the Seattle Seahawks, serving as defensive coordinator during the 1981-82 seasons. He was beginning his final coaching job, again as defensive coordinator, with the Detroit Lions, when he suddenly died on June 2, 1983.

Coaching Timeline

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 ...

(1967-1971) LB *

(1972) DC *

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

(1973) LB *

(1974-1980) DC *

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 ...

(1981-1982) DC *

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

(1983) DC through June 2

References

External links

''New York Times'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Jackie 1936 births 1983 deaths People from Corinth, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football linebackers Denver Broncos (AFL) players Oakland Raiders players Montreal Alouettes players Ole Miss Rebels football players San Diego Chargers coaches Houston Oilers coaches St. Louis Cardinals (football) coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches Detroit Lions coaches Calgary Stampeders players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Toronto Argonauts players National Football League defensive coordinators American Football League players

Coaching Timeline

See also

References

External links