| No. 70, 79, 72, 76 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive tackle |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1937-06-28)June 28, 1937 (age 87) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Weight: | 275 lb (125 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Sacred Heart (Indianapolis) |
| College: | Idaho |
| NFL draft: | 1959: 6th round, 70th pick |
| AFL draft: | 1960 |
| Career history | |
| Stats atPro Football Reference | |
James Francis Prestel (born June 28, 1937) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive lineman in theNational Football League (NFL) in the 1960s. He playedcollege football for theIdaho Vandals.
Selected in the1959 NFL draft by theCleveland Browns, he stayed in college,[1] and joined the team in1960. Prestel was with the expansionMinnesota Vikings for their first five seasons, and then one season each with theNew York Giants andWashington Redskins. He retired from the NFL prior to the1968 season.[2]
Born and raised inIndianapolis,Indiana, Prestel graduated from its Sacred Heart High School (nowRoncalli) in 1955. He ventured west to playcollege football for head coachSkip Stahley at theUniversity of Idaho inMoscow,[3] where he started for theVandals in thePacific Coast Conference (PCC) alongside future notable prosJerry Kramer,Wayne Walker, andJim Norton.[4][5][6] Prestel was a two-sport star athlete for the Vandals, where he alsolettered inbasketball as a6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)center for head coachHarlan Hodges, and made honorable mention in the PCC for the1958–59 season.[1]
Selected by the Browns in thesixth round of the1959 NFL draft (70th overall), Prestel chose to remain in college; he had missed most of the1957 season to return to Indianapolis, where his mother wasterminally ill.[7][8] He was granted another year of eligibility and played the1959 season at Idaho as a fifth-year senior, and was electedcaptain by hisVandal teammates.[9]
Prestel broke his left foot in practice prior to theBattle of the Palouse game withWashington State in October 1959, but played the first half of the game anyway.[10] He missed the remainder of the football season (four games), theEast-West Shrine Game, and the entirebasketball season,[10][11] but was All-Coast honorable mention in football.[12] Prestel played in theCollege All-Star Game atSoldier Field in August 1960, against the defendingNFL championBaltimore Colts.[13]
As of 2023, Prestel resides inParker, Colorado.[14]