J. V. Cain

James Victor Cain, Jr. (July 22, 1951 – July 22, 1979) was an American football tight end who played for the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and was selected by the Cardinals seventh overall in the 1974 NFL draft.

Professional career Cain was selected seventh overall in the first round of the 1974 NFL draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the Cardinals already having a starting tight end in Jackie Smith, general manager George Boone believed Cain was too good a talent to pass up and decided to draft him anyway to play as Smith's backup. In his first two seasons, Cain played in a total of 28 games with ten starts, totaling 286 yards and two touchdowns,

In 1976, Cain became a full-time starting tight end for the Cardinals, starting all 14 games and catching for 400 yards and five touchdowns. He started every game of the 1977 season as well, catching for 328 yards and two touchdowns. A devout Christian, Cain used his time that season to read the Bible, and prayed that after recovering from the injury, he would go on to become an All-Pro tight end. As he had hoped, Cain did make a full recovery from his Achilles injury, though he never played another down of NFL football.

Death and legacy On July 22, 1979, his 28th birthday, at about 8:30 p.m., Cain suddenly collapsed during a no-contact training camp practice at Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri. He was revived by CPR and taken to nearby St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died less than two hours later. His death was found to be due to an extremely rare congenital heart problem, undetectable except by autopsy, which was exacerbated by strenuous exercise.

Career statistics

+ Regular season statistics Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost 1974 STL 14 3 13 152 11.7 40 1 0 0 1975 STL 14 7 12 134 11.2 18 1 2 0 1976 STL 14 14 26 400 15.4 34 5 0 0 1977 STL 13 13 25 328 13.1 38 2 0 0 Career 55 37 76 1,014 13.3 40 9 2 0

+ Postseason statistics Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost 1974 STL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1975 STL 1 1 2 17 8.5 11 0 0 0 Career 2 1 2 17 8.5 11 0 0 0