James Hampton Duncan (May 2, 1924 – January 5, 2011) was an American professionalfootball player and coach.

Duncan playedhigh school football atReidsville High School inReidsville, North Carolina.

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, spending 15 months in Okinawa. Duncan played his first collegiate football season for theDuke Blue Devils underWallace Wade in 1946. Duncan then spent three seasons as a standout defensive lineman forPeahead Walker'sWake Forest Demon Deacons. He was an All-Southern Conference player all three years at Wake Forest and was the team MVP in 1949.

Duncan was alinebacker anddefensive end for theNew York Giants of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1950 to 1955. He was drafted by theChicago Bears in both the1948 and1949 NFL drafts while also being drafted by theCleveland Browns in the ninth round of the1950 NFL draft.^[1] He was named Giants co-captain, along withKyle Rote in 1954.

Duncan was the 13th head football coach at Appalachian State Teachers College—now known asAppalachian State University—located in the town ofBoone, North Carolina, serving from 1960 to 1964.^[2] He had a 31–15–2 as theMountaineers head coach. On December 4, 1964, Duncan resigned as head football coach at Appalachian State.^[3]

In 1965, Duncan joined theSaskatchewan Roughriders of theCanadian Football League (CFL) as an assistant under head coachEagle Keys. He was with the team when they defeated theOttawa Rough Riders in the54th Grey Cup and when the team lost to theHamilton Tiger-Cats in the55th Grey Cup.

Duncan became head coach of theCalgary Stampeders in 1969, replacingJerry Williams who left the team to join thePhiladelphia Eagles. Duncan's stint with the Stamps resulted in twoGrey Cup appearances; one win (59th) and one loss (58th). Duncan was fired in 1973 after back to back 6–10 seasons. His overall record with Calgary was 39–40–1.

Duncan was later hired by a group fromLondon, Ontario, who hoped to bring professional football to their city,^[4] and later served as executive assistant of thePortland Storm of theWorld Football League (WFL).

He was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 1985 and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.^[5][6]

Duncan died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in 2011 at the age of 86.

• Career statistics fromNFL.com · Pro Football Reference

• 1924 births
• 2011 deaths
• American football defensive ends
• Appalachian State Mountaineers football coaches
• Calgary Stampeders coaches
• Duke Blue Devils football players
• New York Giants players
• Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches
• Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players
• People from Reidsville, North Carolina
• Players of American football from North Carolina
• Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in the United States
• Deaths from dementia in North Carolina

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from June 2024