| No. 82 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1970-12-28)December 28, 1970 (age 54) Charles Town, West Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Jefferson (Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia) | ||||||||
| College | West Virginia | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1993: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
James Sherman Jett (born December 28, 1970), is an American former professionalfootball player andOlympicsprinter. He played football as awide receiver for nine seasons with theLos Angeles/Oakland Raiders of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1993 to 2002. He attended college atWest Virginia University. He guided theJefferson High School Cougars ofShenandoah Junction, West Virginia to the state playoffs in 1988. James also ran for the JHS Cougar's Track Team.
Jett playedcollege football atWest Virginia University where he was a four-year starter at receiver.
Jett entered the 1989 season as the only true freshman to play on the eventualGator Bowl team. Jett was one of the targets, along with seniorReggie Rembert, for All-American quarterbackMajor Harris. Along with receiving, Jett led the Mountaineers as areturn specialist. Jett finished the season with only 8 receptions but 179 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a total of 35 returns for 504 yards.
Jett entered his sophomore season in 1990 as the leading returning receiver for the Mountaineers, who lost both Rembert and Harris. Jett totaled his best statistical season in his career, recording 31 receptions for 652 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had a career-low 10 returns for 164 yards.
As a junior, Jett saw his numbers decrease to only 9 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns. However, he totaled 45 returns for 619 yards, both career-highs. Jett also had five carries for 28 yards and a pass for 27 yards. He finished the season with 845all-purpose yards.
In his final collegiate season, James Jett recorded 19 receptions for 382 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also had 35 returns for 333 yards. Jett finished his career againstLouisiana Tech, where Jett was on the receiving end of a stadium-record 78-yard touchdown reception.
Jett played in theJapan Bowl All-Star game upon his graduation.
James Jett finished his career with 1,384 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also had 125 returns for 1,620 yards, totaling 3,076 career all-purpose yards. His all-purpose yardage was fifth on WVU's all-time career list, while his receiving totals was eighth at the time of his graduation.
Jett was inducted into theWest Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men'sathletics | ||
Representingthe United States | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 | 1992 Barcelona | 4 × 100 m relay |
Jett was also anOlympicsprinter. While atWest Virginia University, he was a seven-timeAll-American intrack, finishing fifth at100 meters in the U.S. Olympic Trials inNew Orleans, earning him a spot on the4 × 100 m relay Olympic team, that won in the1992 Summer Olympics with a time of 38.95 seconds. He also outran eventual Olympic gold medalistCarl Lewis in the100 meters during prelims to the games.
Jett ran the first two rounds of the4 × 100 m relay in Barcelona, then gave his spot in the finals toCarl Lewis. All team members earned a gold medal. Jett earned NCAA indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the50 meters,100 meters and200 meters during his career and finished as NCAA runner-up at100 meters and200 meters in 1992.
His personal bests are 10.10 seconds in the100 meters and 19.91 seconds in the200 meters.
| Event | Time (seconds) | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 meters | 6.12 | Morgantown, West Virginia | February 10, 1990 |
| 100 meters | 10.10 | Sestriere, Italy | July 21, 1992 |
| 200 meters | 19.91 NWI[1] | Morgantown, West Virginia | April 18, 1992 |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft9+3⁄8 in (1.76 m) | 167 lb (76 kg) | 30+3⁄4 in (0.78 m) | 8+7⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.49 s | 1.59 s | 2.62 s | 3.89 s | 33.0 in (0.84 m) | ||||
| All values from NFL Combine[2] | ||||||||||||
James Jett signed with theLos Angeles Raiders as anundrafted free agent following the1993 NFL draft.
During hisrookie season, Jett led theNFL with over 23 yards per reception and also recorded 771 yards on 33 receptions for 3 touchdowns. Jett averaged 48.2 yards per game his debut season, played in all 16 games but only starting one.
In the1994 season, Jett played in all 16 games, only starting one, again. However, he only recorded 15 receptions for 253 yards (16.9 yards per reception). In 1995, Jett played in all the games on the season but did not start any contests. He finished the season with 13 receptions for 179 yards and a touchdown.
In1996, Jett finally started all 16 games on the year. At age 26, he recorded 43 receptions for 601 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jett won theNFL Fastest Man Competition following the season.
The following season, he was second among NFL receivers with a personal-best 12 touchdowns in1997. Jett finished with a career-high 46 receptions for 804 yards. Jett was a finalist in the NFL Fastest Man Competition after winning the competition the previous season.
In the1998 season, Jett recorded a career-high 882 yards on 45 receptions for 6 touchdowns. He also tallied a career-high 55 yards per game in his final season of starting all 16 games.
At 29 years old, in 1999, Jett recorded 552 yards on 39 receptions for 2 touchdowns. The following year, 2000, he finished with 20 receptions for 356 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a career-long 84-yard reception against theAtlanta Falcons.
In 2001, at the age of 31 years, Jett played in 11 games on the season, recording two receptions for 19 yards. In his final professional season, 2002, the 32-year-old played in and started only one game, but did not record a statistic.
James Jett finished his career with 256 receptions for 4,417 yards and 30 touchdowns, a 17.3 yard per reception average. Jett finished his career as the 8th-leading receiver inOakland Raiders team history. He was one of two Los Angeles Raiders to remain with the team throughSuper Bowl XXXVII (the other being fellow wide receiverTim Brown).
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1993 | RAI | 16 | 1 | 33 | 771 | 23.4 | 74 | 3 |
| 1994 | RAI | 16 | 1 | 15 | 253 | 16.9 | 54 | 0 |
| 1995 | OAK | 16 | 0 | 13 | 179 | 13.8 | 26 | 1 |
| 1996 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 43 | 601 | 14.0 | 58 | 4 |
| 1997 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 46 | 804 | 17.5 | 56 | 12 |
| 1998 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 45 | 882 | 19.6 | 75 | 6 |
| 1999 | OAK | 16 | 11 | 39 | 552 | 14.2 | 43 | 2 |
| 2000 | OAK | 16 | 13 | 20 | 356 | 17.8 | 84 | 2 |
| 2001 | OAK | 11 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 10 | 0 |
| 2002 | OAK | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 140 | 75 | 256 | 4,417 | 17.3 | 84 | 30 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1993 | RAI | 2 | 0 | 4 | 114 | 28.5 | 54 | 1 |
| 2000 | OAK | 2 | 1 | 5 | 29 | 5.8 | 12 | 1 |
| 2001 | OAK | 2 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 13 | 1 |
| 6 | 1 | 13 | 174 | 13.4 | 54 | 3 | ||
