James Gordon Miller (born July 5, 1957) is a former American college and 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 punter 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) for eight seasons during the 1980s. Miller 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 ...

for 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 received All-American honors. He played professionally for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

of the NFL. He won a super bowl.

Early years

Miller was born in

Ripley, Mississippi Ripley is a city in Tippah County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 5,395 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Tippah County. Colonel William Clark Falkner, great-grandfather of authors William Faulkner and John Faulkner, w ...

and attended Ripley High School, where he played running back, wide receiver, cornerback and punter.

College career

Miller attended the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), where he played for the

Ole Miss Rebels football The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as "Ole Miss". The Rebels compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of ...

team from 1976 to 1979. He started punting barefoot as a freshman (in high school he had to wear a shoe by rule), ranking third in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

with a 40.5-yard punt average. For a while he doubled as a flanker and punter. The next year, he led the NCAA with a 45.9-yard punting average, which was also a school and SEC record. As a junior, he finished with a 43.2-yard per punt average. In his last year he averaged 44.6-yards per punt. At the time he set school records with an 82-yard punt against

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in 1976, punt average in a season (45.9), most punts in a game (12), career punt average (43.4-yard), punts in a career (266), punting yards in a season (3,283 yards) and total punt yards in a career (11,549). He was inducted into the Ole Miss Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995. He was named to the Ole Miss Team of the Century (1893-1992).

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Miller was selected in the third round of 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 ...

by the

, who had gone through three punters in three years. As a rookie, he was named to the All-rookie team after averaging 40.9 yards per punt. He was a part of the

Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

championship team. He was waived before the start of the 1983 season, when he was passed on the depth chart by

Tom Orosz Tom Orosz (born September 26, 1959) is a former American football punter. He played in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins from 1981 to 1982 and for the San Francisco 49ers from 1983 to 1984. He was an All-American at Ohio State ...

Dallas Cowboys

On November 16, 1983, he was 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 ...

by the

to replace the injured rookie John Warren. He only played in three games. He was released after losing the preseason competition with Warren on September 6, 1984.

New York Giants

In 1987, he punted in one game for the

, replacing an injured

Sean Landeta Sean Edward Landeta (born January 6, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in both the United States Football League (USFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Landeta played 22 seasons in the NFL for f ...

. He was cut during the season the team won

Super Bowl XXI Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

. He lives in Ripley, MS with his wife. He has a grandson that enjoys playing football with .

References

External links

October 16, 1978 Sports Illustrated: Ah! Those Punts Hit The Spot
- Sports Illustrated feature on Jim Miller

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Jim 1957 births Living people American football punters Dallas Cowboys players New York Giants players Ole Miss Rebels football players San Francisco 49ers players All-American college football players People from Ripley, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi