James Weldon Hadnot (July 11, 1957 – March 30, 2017) 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for four seasons for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

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). In his first two years of

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 ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Hadnot played tight end where he was a capable pass-catcher and solid blocker. In need of a running back, coach Rex Dockery switched his big receiver to fullback. Running from the veer formation, Hadnot used his considerable size and surprising speed to rush for a school record 1,369 yards as a junior in 1978, then 1,371 yards as a senior, leading the Southwest Conference both years. He was selected to the

1978 College Football All-America Team The 1978 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1978. The National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

(2nd team). He was also chosen

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

offensive player of the year in both 1978 and 1979. During his spectacular 1979 season at Texas Tech and in his subsequent Hula Bowl and Senior Bowl appearances, NFL scouts from the Kansas City Chiefs had taken notice of Hadnot's speed and power. They made him their third round pick in the

1980 NFL Draft The 1980 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 29–30, 1980, at the New York She ...

. In his rookie year he made a solid contribution alternating time with

Tony Reed Tony Reed (born March 30, 1955) is an American former college and professional football player. A star at Colorado, he played five professional seasons as a running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridir ...

and

Horace Belton Horace Belton (July 16, 1955 – May 28, 2019) was a Canadian Football League and National Football League running back and Grey Cup champion. Belton played his college football at Southeastern Louisiana University and began his career in 1977 ...

at running back. Hadnot took over the starting fullback position in 1981, leading the way for the dazzling

Joe Delaney Joe Alton Delaney (; October 30, 1958 – June 29, 1983) was an American football running back who played two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). In his two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Delaney set four franchise records ...

while contributing 603 yards rushing and 215 yards receiving of his own. In addition to his four-year NFL career with the Chiefs, Hadnot caught 19 passes for 214 yards at tight end for the

San Antonio Gunslingers The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...

of the USFL in 1985. After retirement from football, Hadnot returned to his beloved college town of Lubbock where he resided until his death. In 2005, he was enshrined in the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor. Hadnot died on March 30, 2017.James Weldon Hadnot
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* https://web.archive.org/web/20131012004522/http://www.texastech.com/trads/hoh-eh.html 1957 births 2017 deaths People from Jasper, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football running backs Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Kansas City Chiefs players San Antonio Gunslingers players {{runningback-1950s-stub

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