Jeffrey Lee Francis (born July 7, 1966) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He was selected by the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

in the

1989 NFL Draft The 1989 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 23–24, 1989, at the Marriott Marq ...

and also played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. 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 ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Early years

Francis attended Prospect High School in

Mount Prospect, Illinois Mount Prospect is a village in Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships in Cook County, Illinois, about northwest of downtown Chicago, and approximately 4 miles north of O'Hare International Airport. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total popu ...

College career

Francis played

for

Johnny Majors John Terrill Majors (May 21, 1935June 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and college coach. A standout halfback at the University of Tennessee, he was an All-American in 1956 and a two-time winner of the Southeastern Confe ...

at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

from 1985 to 1988, starting from 1987 to 1988. He was the starting quarterback for Tennessee in the 1988 Peach Bowl, which the Volunteers won 27–22 over the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

. He was Tennessee's all-time leader in pass completions and passing yards at the time of his graduation.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Los Angeles Raiders

Francis was selected by the

in the sixth round of the

and spent his rookie season on the Raiders' development roster. He was waived by the Raiders on September 4, 1990.

Cleveland Browns

On October 11, he was signed by the

and placed on the practice squad. Francis was activated by the Browns before their December 23 game against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. He appeared in that game, completing two passes for 26 yards. Francis spent the 1991 season on injured reserve and was cut by the Browns on August 25, 1992. He was re-signed by Cleveland on September 23 when backup

Todd Philcox Todd Philcox (born September 25, 1966 in Norwalk, Connecticut) is a former NFL quarterback. Career Philcox came out of Syracuse University and then played nine years in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneer ...

went on the injured reserve. He was again waived by the Browns on October 1.

Indianapolis Colts

On November 18, 1992, the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

signed Francis to their practice roster. He was waived on December 9, 1992.

Personal life

Francis spent time as sideline reporter for the

Vol Network Vol or Vols may refer to: * Vol (command), a computer operating system command * Vol (heraldry), a heraldic charge * Volatility (finance) * Volume (disambiguation) * Volunteer (Irish republican) * Nashville Vols, an American minor league baseball ...

starting in 2007. He resigned from the job to spend more time with his family, including coaching his sons’ football teams. In addition, he now is senior vice president and financial consultant with Pinnacle Asset Management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Jeff 1966 births Living people American football quarterbacks Cleveland Browns players Los Angeles Raiders players Tennessee Volunteers football players Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois