James Michael Curtis (March 27, 1943 – April 20, 2020) was an American 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 for the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
, the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
and the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
, who played 14 seasons from 1965 to 1978 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 four-time
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
er in 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1974. Although sacks were not official during the time he played, Curtis was a good blitzer, recording 22 sacks, including one in which a famous photograph was taken of Curtis tackling
Roman Gabriel
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. (born August 5, 1940) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was the second overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft and played for the Los Angeles Rams for eleven seaso ...
's head. Curtis also picked off 25 passes and was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1970 by a panel of 101 sportswriters.
Early career
Curtis went to
Richard Montgomery High School
Richard Montgomery High School (RMHS) (#201) is a secondary public school located in Rockville, Maryland.
Academics
The school houses Montgomery County's first International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB). This competitive-entry magnet pro ...
in Rockville, Maryland, and was a 195-pound fullback as a junior in 1959. 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
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
, where he was a two-time All-
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
selection as well Academic All American. At Duke Mike was a member of Phi Delt fraternity.
Career
Curtis was drafted as a
fullback in the first round of the
1965 NFL Draft by the Colts, but later switched to
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
on the weak side (away from the tight end). He was a team captain for most of his Baltimore career. In 1970, he had five
interception
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...
s and that same season made a key pickoff that set up the game-winning field goal in the Colts'
Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to determine the National Football League (NFL) champio ...
win over 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 ...
with just 59 seconds left in the game. He and
Ted Hendricks
Theodore Paul Hendricks (born November 1, 1947), nicknamed "the Mad Stork", is a former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker for 15 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, Green Bay Packers, and the Oakland/Los Angeles ...
, member of the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
, formed a potent tandem at the linebacker position from 1969 to 1973, after which Hendricks was traded. Curtis was named the Colts'
Most Valuable Player
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
in 1974.
Curtis'
1975 season was cut short on November 12 when he opted for surgery to repair cartilage in his left knee which he had injured in a preseason game in early September. Despite the objections of head coach
Ted Marchibroda
Theodore Joseph Marchibroda (March 15, 1931 – January 16, 2016) was an American football quarterback and head coach in the National Football League (NFL). He spent his four years as an active player with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1953, 1955&nd ...
, Curtis was left unprotected for the
1976 NFL Expansion Draft due to a personality conflict with general manager
Joe Thomas. "I heard indirectly that I was in the expansion draft because Joe Thomas hated my guts," he said. "Thomas could have had a first-round draft choice or better for me if he had wanted it."
Curtis was selected by the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
. He started all 14 regular-season games during the Seahawks'
inaugural campaign and was one of the team's cocaptains. After being supplanted by
Ken Geddes
Kenneth Geddes (born September 27, 1947) is a former American football linebacker who played mainly for the Los Angeles Rams, in an eight-year career that lasted from 1971 to 1978 in the National Football League (NFL).
Boys Town, Nebraska
Ged ...
on the depth chart prior to the start of the
1977 season, he was waived by the Seahawks on September 6. He signed with the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
three days later on September 9. He started 11 games in place of the injured
Chris Hanburger
Christian G. Hanburger, Jr. (born August 13, 1941) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire 14-year career with the Washington Redskins, from 1965 through 1978, and was elected to t ...
in
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
, but only two of the 13 contests in which he played the
following year. His intention to retire after the
1979 season was expedited before the campaign began when he was released by the Redskins on August 7.
Writing
In 1972 Curtis wrote one book about his career, titled ''Keep Off My Turf'', in which he states that 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 ...
, who upset the Colts in
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
, "were lucky that day," and that the 1968 Colts were "twice as good as the Jets."
In 2017 Curtis wrote the foreword for ''The First 50 Super Bowls: How Football's Championships Were Won'' by author Ed Benkin.
Personal life
Curtis had three children, Clay, Ryan and Caitlin. As of 2019, he had seven grandchildren. Curtis died on April 20, 2020 in
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
. He died from complications from
chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...
(CTE), a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Mike
1943 births
2020 deaths
Sportspeople from Rockville, Maryland
Players of American football from Maryland
American football linebackers
Duke Blue Devils football players
Baltimore Colts players
Seattle Seahawks players
Washington Redskins players
Western Conference Pro Bowl players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
Writers from Maryland