American football player (born 1970)
American football player
James Sherman Jett
(born December 28, 1970), is a former
American football
wide receiver
and
Olympic
sprinter
who played nine seasons for the
Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
from 1993 to 2002, in the
National Football League
(NFL). He attended college at
West Virginia University
. He guided the
Jefferson High School
Cougars of
Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia
to the state playoffs in 1988. James also ran for the JHS Cougar's Track Team.
Collegiate career
[
edit
]
Jett played
college football
at
West Virginia University
where he was a four-year starter at receiver.
Freshman season (1989)
[
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]
Jett entered the 1989 season as the only true freshman to play on the eventual
Gator Bowl
team. Jett was one of the targets, along with senior
Reggie Rembert
, for All-American quarterback
Major Harris
. Along with receiving, Jett led the Mountaineers as a
return 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.
Sophomore season (1990)
[
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]
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.
Junior season (1991)
[
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]
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 845
all-purpose yards
.
Senior season (1992)
[
edit
]
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 against
Louisiana Tech
, where Jett was on the receiving end of a stadium-record 78-yard touchdown reception.
Jett played in the
Japan Bowl
All-Star game upon his graduation.
Legacy
[
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]
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 the
West Virginia University
Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
Track and field
[
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]
Jett was also an
Olympic
sprinter
. While at
West Virginia University
, he was a seven-time
All-American
in
track
, finishing fifth at
100 meters
in the U.S. Olympic Trials in
New Orleans
, earning him a spot on the
4 x 100 m relay
Olympic team, that won the gold medal in the
1992 Summer Olympics
with a time of 38.95 seconds. He also outran eventual Olympic gold medalist
Carl Lewis
in the
100 meters
during prelims to the games.
Jett ran the first two rounds of the
4 x 100 m relay
in Barcelona, then gave his spot in the finals to
Carl Lewis
. All team members earned a gold medal. Jett earned NCAA indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the
50 meters
,
100 meters
and
200 meters
during his career and finished as NCAA runner-up at
100 meters
and
200 meters
in 1992.
His personal bests are 10.10 seconds in the
100 meters
and 19.91 seconds in the
200 meters
.
Personal bests
[
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]
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
|
Professional career
[
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]
Pre-draft measurables
Height
|
Weight
|
Arm length
|
Hand span
|
40-yard dash
|
10-yard split
|
20-yard split
|
20-yard shuttle
|
Vertical jump
|
5 ft
9
+
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]
|
1993?1995
[
edit
]
James Jett signed with the
Los Angeles Raiders
as an
undrafted free agent
following the
1993 NFL Draft
.
During his
rookie
season, Jett led the
NFL
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 the
1994 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.
1996?1998
[
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]
In
1996
, Jett finally started all 16 games on the year. At age 26, he recorded 43 receptions for 601 yards and 4 touchdowns. Jett won the
NFL
Fastest Man Competition following the season.
The following season, he was second among NFL receivers with a personal-best 12 touchdowns in
1997
. 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 the
1998 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.
1999?2002
[
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]
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 the
Atlanta 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.
Legacy
[
edit
]
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 in
Oakland Raiders
team history. He was one of two Los Angeles Raiders to remain with the team through
Super Bowl XXXVII
(the other being fellow wide receiver
Tim Brown
).
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
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]
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