Jimmy Orr

James Edward Orr Jr. (October 4, 1935 – October 27, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, running from 1958 to 1970.

The speedy Orr was an unrecruited walk-on at the University of Georgia in 1955 and was touted along with a fellow sophomore halfback mate as "Zip Kids." It quickly became clear that Orr's forte was as a pass receiver rather than a runner, however, and he was cast in the role of flanker in the offense.

Drafted in the late rounds by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1957 NFL draft, Orr was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of his debut 1958 season. There as a split end he set team records en route to selection as the 1958 NFL Rookie of the Year in both the Associated Press and United Press International polls. He was traded to the Baltimore Colts ahead of the 1961 NFL season.

Orr played ten years in Baltimore and became a fan favorite, with the corner of the end zone of Memorial Stadium where he caught many of his passes nicknamed "Orrsville." He retired a Super Bowl champion after the 1970 season.

Biography Early life

Jimmy Orr was born October 4, 1935, in Seneca, South Carolina. His father, James Orr Sr., was a prominent doctor in the small community.

He attended Seneca High School where he was a star basketball player, averaging 19 points a game over his last two years and earning All-State Class A honors. Injuries had prevented him from playing more — a broken arm one year and a broken leg another.

Despite his limited ability to get on the field, Orr's footspeed was impressive. "I had lots of scholarship offers," Orr later claimed, "but I decided to go to school to study — I wasn't going to play football at all." on the depth chart. Although Georgia came up on the short end of a 26–13 score in the opener, a 27-yard pass from quarterback Dick Young to Orr set up a 46-yard aerial strike to Orr — and excitement ensued. Yardage gained through the air was quite another matter, however, with Orr snaring 43 passes for 443 yards and 3 touchdowns — an impressive average of 18.5 yards per catch.

Professional career Los Angeles Rams

Jimmy Orr almost missed selection in the 1957 NFL draft, eventually taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the 25th round of the 30 round draft with the 291st pick overall. Orr signed his contract with the Rams at the end of June 1958.

College football reverted to the single platoon system for economic reasons in 1953 so at Georgia Orr saw game time both as a flanker on the offense and a defensive halfback on the other side of the ball. Intrigued by his speed but aware of the physical limitations of his slender body type in the violent NFL game, head coach [Sid Gillman] and the Rams attempted to cast Orr as a defensive back at the pro level. The experiment would prove short-lived.

Injuries to their ends force Gillman to move Orr to the offense in the last preseason game, a contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The speedburner got clear for a pass from Rams quarterback Frank Ryan, with Orr motoring for a 72-yard touchdown to close out scoring in a 31–6 Rams win. His ability as a punter was also noted in training camp and Orr would quickly take on that role, kicking the ball 51 times for an average of 39.7 yards per punt in 1958. Pittsburgh managed to make use of Orr's fumble, scoring their only touchdown of the day four plays later. Orr's three touchdowns and 205 yards in the season finale against the Chicago Cardinals were team records.

Pittsburgh would finish the year 7–4-1 in the Eastern Division, their first winning record since 1949, with the Steelers victorious in their last seven games in a row.

Both the Associated Press writers' poll and the United Press International coaches' poll named Orr the 1958 NFL Rookie of the Year. This was shortly followed by a knee injury in a preseason game against the Chicago Bears when he was cheap-shot 40 yards away from the play by defensive back Jack McClairen, sending him to the hospital again for x-rays.

Orr caught 35 balls in 1959 — two more than his rookie year — but gained only about two-thirds as many yards with an average of 17.3 per catch and 5 touchdowns. The trade, in which the Colts sent veteran linemen Gene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb and Buzz Nutter to the Steelers, was touted by Colts head coach Weeb Ewback as part of a youth movement, with Baltimore also picking up two young and unproven linemen in the transaction, Joe Lewis and Dick Campbell.

Orr was ready to embark on the second part of his professional career, ten seasons in Baltimore.

Baltimore Colts Jimmy Orr snags a game-winning touchdown pass against the Washington Redskins, Dec. 1962. The 1961 season, Orr's first with the Colts, would be the least productive year of his NFL prime.

Orr gathered just 18 catches for 357 yards and 4 touchdowns for the year. Back of this lowered output were nagging leg muscle injuries that hobbled the "slight but swift pass-snaring specialist," and limiting him to just 5 starts in the 13 games he played. Orr was gaining the reputation for being "injury prone."

Concerns among Colts fans about the trade of starting center Buzz Nutter and the popular defensive lineman "Big Daddy" Lipscomb would be soon forgotten, however, as in 1962 Orr followed his worst season with his best, shortly after Orr was presumed dead due to an accident in the United States Army National Guard that involved another individual, Edward Orr, sharing a last name and age with Orr.

Orr's breakout year in Colts blue was put into motion by head coach Weeb Ewbank, who in August moved offensive star Lenny Moore from flanker — a pass-catching position which evolved from right halfback — to left halfback, a running back position starting behind the quarterback. Jimmy Orr was moved from the split end position, which lined up directly on the left end of the line of scrimmage, to flanker, which started each play slightly behind the line of scrimmage on the right side.

Surprisingly, Orr would not be tapped as an All-Pro in 1962.

The 1963 and 1964 Baltimore Colts seasons would be productive for Orr, who started 25 of a possible 28 games.

Orr was also a member of the 1970 Colts team that won the AFC championship and did battle with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football Conference (NFC) in Super Bowl V. Orr was in uniform but was not inserted into the game, limited to giving words of confidence to Colts kicker Jim O'Brien, who hit a last second 32-yard field goal to ice a 16–13 Baltimore win.

After the game, Jimmy Orr announced his retirement in conjunction with teammate Billy Ray Smith after 13 seasons in the National Football League:

"I'm retiring," Orr said. "Billy Ray and I started together with the Rams, then we were traded to the Steelers, and then he was traded to the Colts and he told them to trade for me, so he got me here. And now we're retiring together."

Orr was an avid golfer in his free time. "I must have caught 45 or 50 touchdowns in that right corner," Orr once recalled. "It was sloped some, a little downhill, which helped me, speed-wise. I wasn't all that fast."

NFL career statistics Legend Super Bowl champion Led the league Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Receiving GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1958 PIT 12 12 33 910 27.6 78 7 1959 PIT 12 11 35 604 17.3 43 5 1960 PIT 12 12 29 541 18.7 51 4 1961 BAL 13 5 18 357 19.8 64 4 1962 BAL 14 14 55 974 17.7 80 11 1963 BAL 12 11 41 708 17.3 60 5 1964 BAL 14 14 40 867 21.7 69 6 1965 BAL 14 14 45 847 18.8 57 10 1966 BAL 13 13 37 618 16.7 61 3 1967 BAL 5 1 3 72 24.0 55 1 1968 BAL 13 11 29 743 25.6 84 6 1969 BAL 7 7 25 474 19.0 47 2 1970 BAL 8 1 10 199 19.9 29 2 Career 149 126 400 7,914 19.8 84 66