James Corbin Sidle (February 7, 1942 – November 14, 1999) was a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. 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 ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

and was selected by the

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 ...

in the 4th round (47th overall) of the 1965 NFL Draft.

Early years

Sidle attended Sylacauga High School, before transferring after his sophomore season to

L. Frazier Banks High School L. Frazier Banks Middle School (formerly Banks High School) was a former high school and middle school in the Birmingham City Schools, Birmingham Public School System in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The school, which was named for former superintende ...

, where as a

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 received All-State and All-American honors. He also practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and won the state championship in the hurdles. He accepted a football scholarship from

, where the team employed a run oriented offense. In 1963, as the starting

he finished second in the nation in rushing behind

Dave Casinelli David Anthony "Bull" Casinelli (May 23, 1940 – October 11, 1987), was an American football fullback. He played college football for the Memphis State Tigers from 1960 to 1963. In 1963, Casinelli led Memphis State to an undefeated season and ...

and was named first-team All-American, after leading his team to a No. 5 ranking (9-1 record) and losing 7-13 to Nebraska in the

1964 Orange Bowl The 1964 Orange Bowl was the thirtieth edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, January 1. Part of the 1963–64 bowl game season, it featured the sixth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers ...

. He registered 1,006 rushing yards, 10 rushing

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, 706 passing yards and 5 passing

s. Although he was a

, he still was featured on the cover of the September 21, 1964 edition of the

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

magazine, under the title: "The Year of the Running Back". That year his team was one of the favorites to win the National Championship, but he tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder in the season opener, playing against the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. He still played in all 10 games that season after being switched to halfback, but the team finished with a 6-4 record. He posted 303 rushing yards, 2 rushing

s, 262 passing yards, 54 receiving yards and one receiving

. In 1999, he was inducted into Auburn's ''Tiger Trail'', a walk of fame honoring former school greats. In 2002, he was inducted in the

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history. The museum displays over 5,000 objects related to athletes who were born in Alabama or earned fame ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Sidle was selected by the

in the fourth round (47th overall) of the 1965 NFL Draft and by the

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

in the ninth round (68th overall) of the 1965 AFL Draft. He signed with the Cowboys and was switched to fullback, but he was lost for the year in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

, after re-injuring in July the same shoulder he hurt in college. His rights were sold to the expansion team

on August 31,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

Atlanta Falcons

, the

first used him at

, before switching him to

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 ...

. He was waived on September 11 and signed to the

taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was promoted to the active roster on October 7.

BC Lions (CFL)

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, he signed with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, where he played as a

for 2 seasons.

Personal life

Sidle died of heart failure on November 14, 1999, after being hospitalized with pneumonia.

References

External links

Alabama Sports Hall of Fame bio...And Auburn Runs The Most
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidle, Jimmy 1942 births 1999 deaths Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama American football running backs American football quarterbacks Auburn Tigers football players Dallas Cowboys players Atlanta Falcons players BC Lions players