Jacque Harold MacKinnon (November 10, 1938 – March 6, 1975) was an American professional

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 who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

, playng most of his career 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) 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 ...

. He also was a member of 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 ...

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) and the

Southern California Sun The Southern California Sun were an American football team based in Anaheim, California that played in the World Football League in 1974 and 1975. Their records were 13-7 in 1974 and 7-5 in 1975. Their home stadium was Anaheim Stadium. They wer ...

in the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

(WFL). He 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 ...

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

Early years

Born and raised in

Dover, New Jersey Dover is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. Located on the Rockaway River, Dover is about west of New York City and about west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 18,157,

, MacKinnon attended Dover High School. He was a running back in football, a sprinter in track and a center in basketball. He accepted a football scholarship from

, where he was a standout at halfback.

Professional career

MacKinnon was selected by the

in the 33rd round (264th overall) of the 1962 AFL Draft and the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the 20th round (280th overall) of the 1961 NFL Draft. As the last player selected in the 1961 NFL Draft, he was designated

Mr. Irrelevant Mr. Irrelevant is the nickname given to the last pick of the annual National Football League Draft. Although NFL drafts date back to 1936, the first person to be called Mr. Irrelevant was Kelvin Kirk of the 1976 NFL Draft. History "Mr. Irrelev ...

, however, he is the only such player ever to be eventually selected as an All-Star. He opted to sign with the

of the

to play as a fullback. In 1966, he was moved to

to take advantage of his blocking and receiver skills. Head coach,

Sid Gillman Sidney Gillman (October 26, 1911 – January 3, 2003) was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or w ...

, employed MacKinnon with

Dave Kocourek David Allen Kocourek (August 20, 1937 – April 24, 2013) was an American gridiron football player. He played college football at Wisconsin. Career As a professional, he played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

in the first "twin tight-end" formations seen in professional football. He was on the Chargers' 1963

AFL Championship For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...

team in their victory over the Boston Patriots. He was an AFL All-Star in 1966 and 1968. In 1968, he averaged 19.6 yards per reception, posting 33 receptions for 646 yards and 6

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. On April 29,

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, he was traded to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in exchange for a future draft pick, but he refused to report and instead opted to retire. On September 15,

, he signed as a

free agent 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 ...

with the

, at the time part of the

. In 1974, he signed with the

in the

to play

. In 1976, he was a part of the initial four former players (along with Emil Karas, Frank Buncom,

Bob Laraba Robert Edward Laraba (May 30, 1933February 16, 1962) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker and quarterback in the American Football League (AFL). He played professionally for the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers (1960 ...

), that were inducted posthumously into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame.

Personal life

MacKinnon was out of football when he died in 1975. After fleeing the scene of a car accident and apparently drunk, MacKinnon jumped over a tall fence, not knowing about the construction site on the other side. MacKinnon fell some 30 feet and died of injuries caused by the fall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackinnon, Jacque 1938 births 1975 deaths People from Dover, New Jersey Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey American football fullbacks American football tight ends Colgate Raiders football players San Diego Chargers players Oakland Raiders players Southern California Sun players American Football League All-Star players Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in California American Football League players

Early years

Professional career

Personal life

See also

References