Jimmy Saxton

James Everett Saxton Jr. (May 21, 1940 – May 28, 2014) was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Dallas Texans of the American Football League (AFL) in 1962, when the team won the AFL Championship. He played college football at Texas, where he was an All-American and a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 1961. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

College career Though he never took a snap in high school, Texas coach Darrell Royal envisioned Saxton as a quarterback, and so during his freshman and sophomore years that was the position he played. He finished his career with a win over Mississippi in the 1962 Cotton Bowl in which he set the school record for longest punt in a bowl game with a 73-yard quick kick.

Professional career Saxton was selected in the 11th round (146th overall) of the 1962 NFL draft by the St. Louis Cardinals and in the 10th round (75th overall) of the 1962 AFL draft by the Dallas Texans. He signed with Dallas and saw limited play with them during their AFL Championship 1962 season. He played halfback and punter and returned kickoffs while being tooled as a flanker. He punted twice in, what was at the time, the longest game in AFL/NFL history, the 1962 AFL Championship game. During the 1963 off season, the Texans moved to Kansas City to become the Chiefs and Saxton declined to go with them; he only wanted to play in Texas to stay close to his business interests.

After leaving football, he went into the banking business in Austin where he worked for 27 years. During that time he was chairman of the board of Texas Commerce Bank in Austin, head of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the State Board of Insurance.

He died of dementia on May 28, 2014, and was buried on the shores of Red Lake near the town of Fairfield, Texas.