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| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1947-09-12)September 12, 1947 (age 78) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Detroit (MI) Eastern | ||||||||||||
| College | Morgan State | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1969: 11th round, 273rd overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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John William Fuqua (born September 12, 1947), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professionalfootballrunning back who played from 1969 to 1976, for theNew York Giants andPittsburgh Steelers of theNational Football League (NFL) and theNew York Stars of theWorld Football League (WFL).
John Fuqua was born inDetroit,Michigan, on September 12, 1947. A 1965 graduate of Detroit'sEastern High School, Fuqua playedcollege football atMorgan State University and wasdrafted in the eleventh round of the1969 NFL/AFL draft by theNew York Giants. The next season, Fuqua was traded to thePittsburgh Steelers. It was while with the Steelers that Fuqua would become part of NFL history as the intended target forTerry Bradshaw's pass that resulted in theImmaculate Reception.Oakland Raiders safetyJack Tatum hit Fuqua just as the ball arrived. It has never been established whether the ball hit Fuqua or Tatum. This was critical, since under the rules of the time, once a pass touched an offensive player he was the only one eligible to catch the pass. If the ball had hit Fuqua without touching Tatum, the rules called for the play to be blown dead onceFranco Harris touched the ball. Fuqua reportedly insists to this day that he knows whom the ball hit first, but will never tell.[1]
Fuqua nicknamed himself "The French Count". He is remembered for being one of the flashiest dressers in the NFL, and would occasionally appear in public wearing platform shoes having see-through heels that contained water and a live tropical fish selected from his aquarium to match the color of the day's outfit.[2] He won two Super Bowl titles during his Steelers tenure, which were also the first two championships in the team's history.
Over the course of his career, Fuqua played in 100 games, rushing for 3,031 yards and scoring 24 touchdowns. His best season was in 1970, his first with the Steelers, when he rushed for 691 yards and seven touchdowns. In this season, he set a then Steelers single-game rushing record of 218 yards against thePhiladelphia Eagles. This was later surpassed in 2006 byWillie Parker when he gained 223 yards against theCleveland Browns.
TeammateFranco Harris had his fanclub "Franco's Italian Army", and Fuqua had "Frenchy's Foreign Legion".[3]
In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, Fuqua created a candy bar called "The Immaculate Confection".[4]
InEpisode 31 of the fantasy comedy television seriesThe Good Place, demon Michael, while visiting Earth, tells people that his assistant Janet is named Lisa "Frenchy" Fuqua.[5]