James Douglas Jensen (born November 28, 1953) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, and

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 ...

. 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 ...

at the University of Iowa.

Early years

Jensen attended Davenport Central High School where he was a multiple state champion in track and field, winning the indoor high and low hurdles, the pentathlon, the outdoor high hurdles and was a member of the state champion mile medley relay team. He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Iowa. Measuring 6' 3", 230 lbs. and running a 4.4

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

, he earned eight varsity letters, four in football and four in track and field. In football, he was the team's leading rusher as a sophomore and junior, finishing his career with 367 carries for 1,661 rushing yards (4.5-yard avg.) and 9 touchdowns. In track, he competed as a hurdler. In the 1975 Senior Bowl, he played

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

and was the game's leading rusher. In 1988, he was inducted into the Iowa High School Sports Hall of Fame and to the Quad Cities Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Jensen was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round (40th overall) of the

1976 NFL Draft The 1976 National Football League draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York. The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks m ...

. As a rookie, he played mainly on special teams, and because of his versatility and size, he was moved between running back and tight end. In 1977, he became expendable when Tony Dorsett was drafted, so he was traded to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a sixth round draft choice (#160-Mike Salzano), after never having a rushing attempt with the Cowboys.

Denver Broncos

Jensen was a versatile running back for the Denver Broncos and helped the team reach

Super Bowl XII Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

in 1977, playing against his former teammates. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, he was placed on the injured reserve list with a knee injury. He led the team in rushing (476 yards) and receptions (49) in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. The next year, he was released before the season started.

Green Bay Packers

On September 9,

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, he signed as a free agent with the

, to be the backup for

Gerry Ellis Gerry Ellis (born November 12, 1957) is a former professional American football player who played running back for seven seasons for the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Missouri and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 19 ...

and to play special teams. On September 7,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, he was released. On September 13, one day after the Packers defeated the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in their season opener, he was re-signed to replace an injured Ellis. With Bart Starr as the head coach, in

the Packers made their first appearance in the playoffs after a 10-year drought. On April 15,

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, he announced his retirement.

Personal life

Following his retirement from the National Football League, he made his home in Colorado and entered the advertising/marketing/public relations field. He has three children: Jessica, Cody and Jack, one grand daughter, Savannah, and one brother, Andy. He currently lives in Minnesota at Rose Lake near Vergas, and is a consultant for advertising, public relations, communications, marketing and special events projects. He also is a corporate motivational speaker and paints, writes and pursues life adventures in his spare time. Jensen is an avid motorcyclist and enjoys traveling into MX and to other off-the-beaten-path places. He also enjoys fly tying and fly fishing for warm water species,

upland bird Upland game bird is an American term which refers to non-water fowl game birds in groundcover-rich terrestrial ecosystems above wetlands and riparian zones (i.e. "uplands"), which are commonly hunted with gun dogs (pointing breeds, flushing spaniels ...

hunting, archery and running. He created the annual Run 'Round the Rose 12 Mile Run for Diabetes in Vergas, MN in honor of his mother, Lois, who had adult onset diabetes for her entire adult life. He has competed in this race since its inception and finished third in the Masters category in 2009. He also is an accomplished, and published, photographer, columnist and artist. He has written for

the Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...

, Greeley Tribune, WindsorNOW! and Thunder Press magazine. He credits a lot of his accomplishments in life to the influence of several key people: his father, John, a World War II veteran and son of a Danish immigrant, his high school coaches Jim Fox and Ira Dunsworth, Broncos head coach Red Miller,

Paul Roach Paul Louis Roach (October 24, 1927 – September 3, 2023) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He was the head football coach of the Wyoming Cowboys from 1987 to 1990, also serving as the University of W ...

, and Bill Reichardt (University of Iowa Big Ten MVP running back in 1951).

References

External links

Colorado Classics: Jim Jensen, former Denver Broncos running back
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Jim 1953 births Living people Sportspeople from Davenport, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American football running backs American football tight ends Iowa Hawkeyes football players Dallas Cowboys players Denver Broncos players Green Bay Packers players American people of Danish descent