American football player (1936–1983)
American football player
James Edward Pace (January 1, 1936 – March 4, 1983) was an American running back in the National Football League (NFL). An All-American in 1957, he played halfback who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines teams from 1955 to 1957.
Early life
Although he was born in Little Rock, Arkansas ,[1] Pace was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan .[2] He played sandlot football with Terry Barr .[2] In high school, Pace was a football and track star from 1950 to 1954. In track, he ran a time of a 9.6 seconds in the 100 yard dash at Dunbar High School.[3]
College career
Pace stiff-arms Ollie Lindborg of Northwestern, 1955
Pace attended the University of Michigan and played for the Michigan Wolverines football . He was named the Most Valuable Player on the Michigan football team.[4] He was also awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten Conference .[5] He also ran track at Michigan and won the Big Ten 60-yard indoor dash title.[2] In 1957, he scored ten touchdowns : seven rushing , two receiving , and one punt return. He accumulated almost 800 yards of total offense in 1957 (664 rushing, 122 receiving and 98 on punt returns) and averaged 5.4 yards per carry rushing.[2] In the 1957 Michigan-Ohio State game, Pace rushed for 164 yards and caught a 14-yard pass,[6] which was at that time the Michigan record for rushing yards against Ohio State. Pace played in the 1957 East–West Shrine Game .[3] He was also selected by the Associated Press as a first-team player on the 1957 College Football All-America Team .[7]
Professional career
Pace was the eighth pick in the first round of the 1958 NFL draft .[8] but played just one season for the San Francisco 49ers . He later played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League before retiring in 1963.[3]
After retiring from football, Pace was an AFL administrative assistant from 1964 to 1966, an Oakland football scout, an actor in TV commercials and a school administrator in Los Angeles.[3] He died at age 47 in Culver City, California .
See also
References
^ "All-Time Player: James Pace" . NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved November 27, 2007 .
^ a b c d "University of Michigan Football All-American: James Pace" . The Regents of the University of Michigan. February 10, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2007 .
^ a b c d "Jim Pace" . Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame. 2002. Retrieved November 27, 2007 . [dead link ]
^ "1957 Football Team" . The Regents of the University of Michigan. March 31, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2007 .
^ "Tribune Silver Football winners, 1924-2005" . The Chicago Tribune. 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2007 .
^ "Versus Ohio State November 23, 1957" . Versus Ohio State November 23, 1957. 2003. Archived from the original on May 25, 2005. Retrieved November 27, 2007 .
^ Bob Hoobnig (December 2, 1955). "Swink On AP All-American". Abilene Reporter-News .
^ "1958 NFL Player Draft" . databaseFootball.com . databaseSports.com. 2006. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved November 27, 2007 .
External links