| No. 81, 49 | |||||||||
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| Position | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1953-04-03)April 3, 1953 Seattle, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | October 1, 2023(2023-10-01) (aged 70) Lake Placid, New York, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 242 lb (110 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Kailua (HI) Pleasant Hill (OR) | ||||||||
| College | Oregon | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1975:1st round, 16th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Russell Ross Francis (April 3, 1953 – October 1, 2023) was an American professionalfootball player who was atight end for 13 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL). He played for theNew England Patriots andSan Francisco 49ers. He was also aprofessional wrestler.Francis finished his NFL career with 393 receptions for 5,262 yards and 40touchdowns. He was inducted into theOregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.
In 2021, theProfessional Football Researchers Association named Francis to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2021.[1]
Francis began high school atKailua High School onOahu,Hawaii, and finished atPleasant Hill High School in Oregon, southeast ofEugene.[2] He set the national high school record for thejavelin as a senior in 1971 at 259 ft 9 in (79.17 m); the record stood until 1988.[3] Francis was also adecathlete for Pleasant Hill.[4]
At theUniversity of Oregon inEugene, 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Francis threw the javelin and played only 14 games of varsity football for theDucks. Injured after three games as a sophomore in1972, he played in1973,[5] but sat out his senior season in1974.[6]
Francis enrolled at rivalOregon State University in order to expire his collegiate eligibility and be eligible for the1975 NFL draft.[7] Briefly apro wrestler,[8] he trained for theSuperstars competition and was selected in the first round by theNew England Patriots, the 16th overall pick and signed in May.[9]
During the Patriots 30–27 win in1976 over the two-time defending Super Bowl championPittsburgh Steelers on September 26, Francis caught a 38-yard touchdown pass fromSteve Grogan on fourth and one. In that same game, Francis had a career-best 139 yards receiving.[10] As a result,Howard Cosell proclaimed him as the "All-World Tight End".[11]
In1978, Francis had a career-longest 53-yard reception and 126 yards receiving in the Patriots21–14 win over theOakland Raiders at theOakland Coliseum on September 24. That season, he led the Patriots in receptions with 39 catches for 543 yards.[12]
Francis was aPro Bowl selection for three consecutive seasons (1977–1979).[13]
Following the 1980 season, Francis opted to retire from professional football[14] after the Patriots refused to give him his promised bonus for making the Pro Bowl that he missed due to injury,[15] and when the team tried to cancelDarryl Stingley's medical insurance after he was paralyzed by aJack Tatum hit two years earlier. Francis, who was roommates with Stingley, said that it was tough to play after Stingley's injury.[16]
After sitting out the1981 season, Francis came out of retirement and joined the 49ers for the 1982 season. In the 49ers' win over theMiami Dolphins inSuper Bowl XIX,[16] he had five receptions for 60 yards. In1985, he had a career-high 44 receptions.[13]
Francis was released by the 49ers in 1987 and rejoined the Patriots before the season's final game.[17] He was on the roster in 1988 but after missing the1989 season due to injury and then being released, he retired for the second time.[18]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1975 | NE | 14 | 11 | 35 | 636 | 18.2 | 48 | 4 |
| 1976 | NE | 13 | 12 | 26 | 367 | 14.1 | 48 | 3 |
| 1977 | NE | 10 | 10 | 16 | 229 | 14.3 | 31 | 4 |
| 1978 | NE | 15 | 15 | 39 | 543 | 13.9 | 53 | 4 |
| 1979 | NE | 12 | 12 | 39 | 557 | 14.3 | 44 | 5 |
| 1980 | NE | 15 | 15 | 41 | 664 | 16.2 | 39 | 8 |
| 1982 | SF | 9 | 4 | 23 | 278 | 12.1 | 26 | 2 |
| 1983 | SF | 16 | 16 | 33 | 357 | 10.8 | 25 | 4 |
| 1984 | SF | 10 | 8 | 23 | 285 | 12.4 | 32 | 2 |
| 1985 | SF | 16 | 16 | 44 | 478 | 10.9 | 25 | 3 |
| 1986 | SF | 16 | 14 | 41 | 505 | 12.3 | 52 | 1 |
| 1987 | SF | 8 | 7 | 22 | 202 | 9.2 | 19 | 0 |
| NE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1988 | NE | 12 | 8 | 11 | 161 | 14.6 | 51 | 0 |
| Career | 167 | 148 | 393 | 5,262 | 13.4 | 53 | 40 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1976 | NE | 1 | 1 | 4 | 96 | 24.0 | 40 | 1 |
| 1978 | NE | 1 | 1 | 8 | 101 | 12.6 | 24 | 1 |
| 1983 | SF | 2 | 2 | 8 | 123 | 15.4 | 27 | 0 |
| 1984 | SF | 3 | 3 | 8 | 89 | 11.1 | 19 | 1 |
| 1985 | SF | 1 | 1 | 4 | 39 | 9.8 | 20 | 0 |
| 1986 | SF | 1 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 20 | 0 |
| Career | 9 | 9 | 35 | 474 | 13.5 | 40 | 3 | |
He was the son of wrestling promoterEd Francis and got into wrestling in 1974 in Vancouver. He briefly competed full-time in theAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1976 to 1977.[19] He also competed in theNational Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hawaii from 1977 to 1978 where at one time he held theNWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship with his older brother, Billy Roy Francis.[20] In 1978, he left wrestling and continued playing football.
Francis appeared in a 20-manbattle royal atWrestleMania 2 along with other NFL stars.[21] In 1987, he returned to AWA for a few matches and then retired.
Francis qualified for TheSuperstars final and the World Superstars in 1980 and 1981, finishing second in the 1980 final and third in the 1981 event.[22] He won the football preliminary in 1981 and set a record of 23.91 seconds in the 50-yard (46 m) swimming event.[23] That record stood until 1986, when it was broken byGreg Louganis.[24]
After retiring, he hostedThe Russ Francis Show from 9 am to noon on107.7 WTPL "The Pulse", out ofConcord, New Hampshire,[25] and later he hostedForever West Outdoors from 4 to 6 pm on 1400 AMKODI, out ofCody, Wyoming.[26]
In 2015, he was inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame as a contributor.[27] Francis was also the president of Lake Placid Airways, a scenic and charter-flight airline.[28]
In2000, Francis challenged long-timeDemocratic incumbentPatsy Mink forHawaii's 2nd congressional district.[29]
Running as aRepublican, Francis was defeated, winning 35.97% of the vote to Mink's 61.59%.[30]
On October 1, 2023, Francis andAOPA Air Safety Institute vice presidentRichard McSpadden were both killed in a plane crash inLake Placid, New York, after the 1976Cessna 177RG flown by Francis out ofLake Placid Airport experienced power failure and attempted to return to the airport, but struck aberm on the runway and crashed into a ravine.[31] Francis was 70 years old.[32]
