| No. 40 | |||||||||||
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| Position | Cornerback | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1945-10-10)October 10, 1945 (age 80) Pascagoula, Mississippi, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 194 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| College | Tennessee A&I | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1969: 1st round, 23rd overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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James Marsalis (born October 10, 1945) is an American former professionalfootball player who was acornerback for nine seasons in theAmerican Football League (AFL) andNational Football League (NFL).
Marsalis was born on October 10, 1945, inPascagoula, Mississippi.[1] He attendedCarver High School, where he played football.[2]
Marsalis playedcollege football atTennessee A&I (now Tennessee State University) from 1965 to 1968, under coach"Big John" Merritt,[3][2] before playing professionally from 1969 through 1977.[4] He was dominant enough as a cornerback to have only one touchdown thrown against him in four seasons of college football.[2]
In 1968, Marsalis was named an All-American by bothThe Sporting News andTime Magazine. He vaulted into the conscience of professional scouts at the 1968Blue-Gray All-Star Classic by intercepting a record three passes in the game.[2] He was Senior of the Year at Tennessee.[1]
Marsalis was selected in the first round of the1969 NFL Draft by the AFL'sKansas City Chiefs (23rd overall).[5] An immediate starter at cornerback, Marsalis helped the Chiefs defeat the defending league championNew York Jets in the first game of the 1969 AFL playoffs, with two interceptions off the Jets'Joe Namath. After the Chiefs won the final AFL Championship Game a week later in Oakland against theRaiders 16–6, where Marsalis had another interception, he started in theSuper Bowl IV, theFourth AFL-NFL World Championship Game.[2] The Chiefs, defeated theMinnesota Vikings in the last World Championship game played between the AFL and NFL champions.[6]
A two-time Pro Bowler with the Chiefs (1970 and 1971), Marsalis was selected byPro Football Weekly and theNFL Players Association as the 1969 AFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.[2][4][7] He was also selectedAll Pro in 1970.[4] A physical player, Marsalis' style of play as a defensive back was often associated with the physical "bump and run" tactics that would eventually be outlawed by the NFL.[2]
After playing for the Chiefs through the 1976 season, Marsalis would play his last two professional seasons with the New Orleans Saints, retiring after the1978 season.[2] For his efforts at the college and professional level, Marsalis was selected to theTennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.[2]
In 2023, Marshalis was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.[7][3] Marsalis would later work in banking as a loan officer.[2] He briefly served as a defensive secondary coach atMiddle Georgia.[1]