Jonathan Leroy Staggers, Jr. (born December 14, 1948) is a former professional

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 ...

wide receiver 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). He was a star football player for Helias High School in Jefferson City, Missouri. He starred as a running back/wide receiver at the University of Missouri before playing six seasons for 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 ...

, the

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 ...

, and the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

of the NFL. He is the first cousin of tennis great

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Unite ...

. His father, Jonathan Staggers, was a basketball coach at Lincoln University Hayward State University and Claflin College

NFL career

Staggers started his career with two years with the

: 1970 and 1971. The Steelers drafted him out of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in the 5th round (the 105th pick overall) in 1970. This was the same draft in which the Steelers picked two future Pro Football Hall of Famers: Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount. Shortly before the start of the 1972 season, the Steelers waived Staggers and the

claimed him on September 13, 1972. Staggers played for the Packers from 1972-1974. 1973 and 1974 proved to be the most productive seasons of his career. Staggers led the Packers both seasons in both receiving yardage and punt return yardage. His 85 yard punt return for a touchdown against the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

in 1972 was the longest punt return that season. But with the Packers under the new management of Bart Starr, Staggers lost his wide receiver starting job to

Ken Payne Ken Payne (October 6, 1950 – August 1, 2011) was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He sprinted and played college football at Langston, helping the team to an 11-0 record and the 1973 NAIA playoffs. He ...

, and his punt return job to rookie

Willard Harrell Willard Harrell (born September 16, 1952) is an American former football running back and return specialist who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the Green Bay Packers and seven years with the St. Louis Cardinals ...

, and the Packers waived him shortly before the start of the season. The

claimed him off of waivers on September 22, 1975. Staggers played in 5 games as a wide receiver for the Lions, starting in 4. Unlike with the Steelers and Packers, however, he was not used as a punt returner in Detroit.

Post-career honors

The 1969 University of Missouri Tigers football team, of which Staggers was a member, was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. The Associated Press ranked them as the #6 team in the nation at the close of the season. The team was coached by

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Univers ...

, who would later coach Staggers with the Packers. Staggers was one of five members of the 1969 Tigers to play in the NFL, including wide receiver Mel Gray.

Post-NFL life

After an injury led to his retirement from pro football, Staggers spent six years working as an actor at the American Conservatory Theater. Since 1998, he has been a Breema instructor and practitioner in the San Francisco Bay Area. He studied under spiritual teacher Dr. Jean Klein and ''Way of the Peaceful Warrior'' author

Dan Millman Daniel Jay Millman (born February 22, 1946) is an American author and lecturer in the personal development field. He is best-known for the movie Peaceful Warrior, which is based on his own life and taken from one of his books. Early life Millman ...

. He also serves on the Players Advisory Board of the Northern California Chapter of the National Football League Alumni.Northern California Chapter, NFL Alumni Association, "Players Advisory Board". Available online: http://nocal.nflalumni.org/about-us/board-of-directors/. Downloaded August 22, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staggers, Jon 1948 births Living people Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia American football wide receivers Missouri Tigers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Green Bay Packers players Detroit Lions players