View source for James Lofton

{{Short description|American football player and coach (born 1956)}}
{{For|the baseball player|James Lofton (baseball)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image        = Legends and Heroes Unite National Football League Hall of Famers and Cheerleaders join forces with Marines at MCBH (20) (cropped).jpg
| caption      = Lofton in 2025
| position     = [[Wide receiver]]
| number       = 80, 86, 22
| birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1956|7|5}}
| birth_place  = [[Fort Ord]], [[California]], U.S.
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 3
| weight_lb    = 187
| draftyear    = 1978
| draftround   = 1
| draftpick    = 6
| high_school  = [[Washington Preparatory High School|Washington]]<br>([[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]])
| college      = [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford]]
| teams        =
* [[Green Bay Packers]] ({{NFL Year|1978}}&ndash;{{NFL Year|1986}})
* [[Los Angeles Raiders]] ({{NFL Year|1987}}&ndash;{{NFL Year|1988}})
* [[Buffalo Bills]] ({{NFL Year|1989}}&ndash;{{NFL Year|1992}})
* [[Los Angeles Rams]] ({{NFL Year|1993}})
* [[Philadelphia Eagles]] ({{NFL Year|1993}})
| pastcoaching =
* [[San Diego Chargers]] ({{NFL Year|2002}}–{{NFL Year|2007}})<br>Wide receivers coach
* [[Oakland Raiders]] ({{NFL Year|2008}})<br>Wide receivers coach
| highlights   =
* 2× First-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1980 All-Pro Team|1980]], [[1981 All-Pro Team|1981]])
* 2× Second-team All-Pro ([[1982 All-Pro Team|1982]], [[1983 All-Pro Team|1983]])
* 8× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1979 Pro Bowl|1978]], [[1981 Pro Bowl|1980]]–[[1986 Pro Bowl|1985]], [[1992 Pro Bowl|1991]])
* [[NFL 1980s All-Decade Team]]
* [[Pro Football Writers of America NFL All-Rookie Team|PFWA All-Rookie Team]] ([[Pro Football Writers of America NFL All-Rookie Team#1978|1978]])
* [[Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame]]
* [[Buffalo Bills#50th Anniversary Team|Buffalo Bills 50th Anniversary Team]]
* Second-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1977 College Football All-America Team|1977]])
* First-team [[List of All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-8]] ([[1977 All-Pacific-8 Conference football team|1977]])
| statlabel1   = [[Reception (American football)|Reception]]s
| statvalue1   = 764
| statlabel2   = [[Reception (gridiron football)|Receiving yards]]
| statvalue2   = 14,004
| statlabel3   = [[Touchdown|Receiving touchdowns]]
| statvalue3   = 75
| HOF          = james-lofton
| pfr          = L/LoftJa00
}}

'''James David Lofton''' (born July 5, 1956)<ref name=":0" /> is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player and coach.  
He played in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) as a [[wide receiver]] for the [[Green Bay Packers]] (1978&ndash;1986), [[Los Angeles Raiders]] (1987&ndash;1988), the [[Buffalo Bills]] (1989&ndash;1992), [[Los Angeles Rams]] (1993) and [[Philadelphia Eagles]] (1993).  He was also the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] champion in the [[long jump]] in 1978 while attending [[Stanford University]].

Widely regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kenyon |first=David |date=October 3, 2018 |title=The Top 10 NFL Wide Receivers of All Time |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2797941-the-top-10-nfl-wide-receivers-of-all-time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405022007/https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2797941-the-top-10-nfl-wide-receivers-of-all-time |archive-date=April 5, 2022 |access-date=August 16, 2022 |website=Bleacher Report |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tallent |first=Aaron |date=February 18, 2022 |title=25 Greatest Wide Receivers in NFL History |url=https://athlonsports.com/nfl/25-greatest-wide-receivers-nfl-history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405075026/https://athlonsports.com/nfl/25-greatest-wide-receivers-nfl-history |archive-date=April 5, 2022 |access-date=August 16, 2022 |website=AthlonSports.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Patuto |first=Greg |date=May 15, 2020 |title=Ranking The 20 Greatest NFL Wide Receivers Of All Time |url=https://clutchpoints.com/ranking-the-20-greatest-nfl-wide-receivers-of-all-time/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207200923/https://clutchpoints.com/ranking-the-20-greatest-nfl-wide-receivers-of-all-time/ |archive-date=February 7, 2022 |access-date=August 16, 2022 |website=ClutchPoints |language=en-US}}</ref> Lofton retired with the most receiving yards in NFL history and was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.aspx?PLAYER_ID=131 |title=Hall of Famers » JAMES LOFTON |publisher=Profootballhof.com |access-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Las Vegas Raiders |url=https://www.raiders.com/history/james-lofton |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=Las Vegas Raiders |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> After his playing career ended, he became a wide receivers coach for the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders.

==Early life==
Lofton prepped at [[Washington Preparatory High School|George Washington High School]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], where he played quarterback and safety.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://calhisports.com/2012/11/15/hofer-james-lofton-inspires/ |title=HOFer James Lofton Inspires |publisher=Calhisports.com |date=November 15, 2012 |access-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref>

==College career==
Lofton played college football at [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford University]].  As a senior in [[1977 Stanford Cardinals football team|1977]], he received 57 passes for 1,010 yards (17.72 yards per reception average) with 14 touchdowns, and was an [[Associated Press|AP]] & NEA second-team [[1977 College Football All-America Team|All-American]] selection. Lofton was a member of [[Theta Delta Chi]] fraternity, and earned a bachelor's degree in [[industrial engineering]] in 1978.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-sports/shows/cbs-sports/bios?id=james-lofton |title=James Lofton |access-date=December 16, 2018}}</ref>

===Track and field===
Lofton won the long jump at the 1978 [[NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship|NCAA Track and Field Championships]] with a wind-aided jump of 26 feet 11¾ inches. He won the long jump at the 1974 [[CIF California State Meet]] with a jump of 24 feet 3½ inches after placing sixth in this meet the year before.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/stateres.htm |title=California State Meet Results - 1915 to present |publisher=Hank Lawson |access-date=December 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092406/http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/stateres.htm |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was also a sprinter of note, with a best of 20.5 in the [[200 meter]]. He has been an active participant in Masters track and field since 1997.

==Professional career==
Lofton was [[NFL draft|drafted]] in the first round (sixth overall) of the [[1978 NFL draft]] by the [[Green Bay Packers]].  He was named to the [[NFL Pro Bowl]] eight times<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=February 18, 2022 |title=The Life And Career Of James Lofton (Complete Story) |url=https://www.profootballhistory.com/james-lofton/ |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=Pro Football History |language=en-US}}</ref> (seven with the Packers, one with the Bills).  He was also named to four All-Pro teams.  He also played in three [[Super Bowl]]s during his career with the Bills.<ref>{{cite web |author=@jfritz20 |url=http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2009/6/2/891303/top-50-all-time-bills-no-47-wr |title=Top 50 All-Time Bills, No. 47: WR James Lofton |publisher=Buffalo Rumblings |date=June 2, 2009 |access-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref>  Lofton was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 2003 and is the first Packers player not associated with [[Curly Lambeau]] or [[Vince Lombardi]] to be inducted.[[File:James Lofton.JPG|left|thumb|Lofton on the [[Green Bay Packers]]]]In his 16 NFL seasons, Lofton caught 764 passes for 14,004 yards and 75 touchdowns.  He averaged 20 yards per catch or more in five seasons, leading the league in [[1983 NFL season|1983]] and [[1984 NFL season|1984]] with an average of 22.4 and 22 yards respectively.  He also rushed 32 times for 246 yards and one touchdown.

Lofton is the first NFL player to record 14,000 yards receiving and was the second (one game after [[Drew Hill]]) to score a touchdown in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.  During his nine seasons in Green Bay, Lofton played in seven Pro Bowls and left as the team's all-time leading receiver with 9,656 yards (since broken by [[Donald Driver]]). On April 13, 1987, he was traded for two draft picks to the Raiders in the wake of his charge for second degree sexual assault. A month later, he was found not guilty by Brown County Circuit Court jury. Two mediocre seasons (a combined 69 catches in 28 games) with the Raiders followed before he was signed as a free agent by Buffalo in 1989. He was to sign a two-year deal with Oakland in 1993 but instead joined the Los Angeles Rams, where he played just one game before finishing the season with Philadelphia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heisler |first=Mark |date=1987-04-14 |title=Raiders Acquire Lofton From Green Bay : L.A. Disregards Fact the All-Pro Wide Receiver Is Awaiting Trial |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-14-sp-268-story.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Heisler |first=Mark |date=1987-05-23 |title=Lofton Is Acquitted of Sexual Assault by Green Bay Jury |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-23-sp-1829-story.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Timothy W. |date=1992-01-19 |title=PRO FOOTBALL; The Decline and Return of James Lofton |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/19/sports/pro-football-the-decline-and-return-of-james-lofton.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Springer |first=Steve |date=1993-05-08 |title=Lofton to Become a Raider--Again : Pro football: He agrees to two-year, $1.8-million deal to rejoin team. Rams also were interested in receiver. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-08-sp-32846-story.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

On the retirement of [[Steve Largent]], Lofton became the NFL's active leader in receiving yards at the start of 1990, through to his retirement in 1993. In [[1991 NFL season|1991]], Lofton became the oldest player to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season (since broken by [[Jerry Rice]]). On October 21, of that same year, Lofton became the oldest player to record 200 yards receiving as well as 200 yards from scrimmage in a game (35 years, 108 days). He is also the 2nd oldest player to have 200+ all-purpose yards in a game behind [[Mel Gray (return specialist)|Mel Gray]], (35 years, 204 days). He was inducted into the [[Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame]] in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.packers.com/history/hof/james-lofton | title = James Lofton | last = Christl | first = Cliff | author-link = Cliff Christl | website = Packers.com | access-date = September 20, 2023 | archive-date = May 25, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230525202629/https://www.packers.com/history/hof/james-lofton | url-status = live }}</ref>

==Coaching career==
Lofton became the wide receiver coach for the [[San Diego Chargers]] in 2002 and continued that role until he was fired on January 22, 2008. Early in his coaching career, Lofton watched Robert Woods in a high school track meet, he noted that he would be an incredible NFL prospect.  In 2005 at the NFL draft, Lofton played catch with Desean Jackson, noting he was going to be an excellent deep ball threat. Lofton was later announced as a candidate to become head coach for [[Oakland Raiders]] in 2007 but the job would later go to [[Lane Kiffin]].  In 2008, the Raiders hired him as their wide receivers coach.<ref>{{cite web|last=Williamson |first=Bill |url=https://www.espn.com/blog/afcwest/tag/_/name/james-lofton |title=James Lofton - AFC West Blog - ESPN |publisher=Espn.go.com |date=January 13, 2009 |access-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref> On January 13, 2009, Lofton was let go by the [[Oakland Raiders]] and replaced by [[Sanjay Lal]].

==Broadcasting career==
Lofton served as a [[color analyst]] and [[sideline reporter]] for NFL coverage on [[NFL on Westwood One|Westwood One]] radio from 1999 to 2001. In 2009, he re-joined the network to team with [[Dave Sims]] and later [[Kevin Kugler]] on ''Sunday Night Football'' broadcasts. He moved to a television position on the ''[[NFL on CBS]]'' in 2017,<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 4, 2021 |title=James Lofton |url=https://fox5sandiego.com/author/james-lofton/ |access-date=March 7, 2022 |website=FOX 5 San Diego |language=en-US}}</ref> replacing the departing [[Solomon Wilcots]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://awfulannouncing.com/cbs/james-lofton-joins-cbs-nfl-game-analyst-tony-gonzalez-jumps-fox.html | title=James Lofton joins CBS as an NFL game analyst, while Tony Gonzalez jumps to Fox | first=Alex | last=Putterman | date=May 10, 2017 | publisher=Awful Announcing}}</ref> He has been the game analyst paired with [[Andrew Catalon]] since then.<ref>[https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/former-bill-james-lofton-joins-cbss-nfl-lineup-as-networks-announce-broadcast-teams/article_ab85d1b1-4b41-5cb5-8082-2bcce952f1bd.html Connors, Greg. "Former Bill James Lofton joins CBS's NFL lineup as networks announce broadcast teams," ''The Buffalo'' (NY) ''News'', Tuesday, August 15, 2017.] Retrieved February 5, 2022.</ref> In 2023, Lofton was considered by many to be in the running for a promotion to higher tiers of the announcing ranks on CBS.

==NFL career statistics==
===Regular season===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! colspan="2"| Games
! colspan="5"| Receiving
|-
! GP !! GS !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD 
|-
! [[1978 NFL season|1978]] !! [[1978 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 46 || 818 || 17.8 || 58 || 6
|-
! [[1979 NFL season|1979]] !! [[1979 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 54 || 968 || 17.9 || 52 || 4
|-
! [[1980 NFL season|1980]] !! [[1980 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || '''71''' || 1,226 || 17.3 || 47 || 4 
|-
! [[1981 NFL season|1981]] !! [[1981 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || '''71''' || 1,294 || 18.2 || 75 || '''8'''
|-
! [[1982 NFL season|1982]] !! [[1982 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| 9 || 9 || 35 || 696 || 19.9 || '''80''' || 4
|-
! [[1983 NFL season|1983]] !! [[1983 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 58 || 1,300 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''22.4''' || 74 || '''8'''
|-
! [[1984 NFL season|1984]] !! [[1984 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 62 || '''1,361''' || style="background:#cfecec;"|22.0 || 79 || 7
|-
! [[1985 NFL season|1985]] !! [[1985 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 69 || 1,153 || 16.7 || 56 || 4 
|-
! [[1986 NFL season|1986]] !! [[1986 Green Bay Packers season|GB]]
| 15 || 15 || 64 || 840 || 13.1 || 36 || 4
|-
! [[1987 NFL season|1987]] !! [[1987 Los Angeles Raiders season|RAI]]
| 12 || 12 || 41 || 880 || 21.5 || 49 || 5
|-
! [[1988 NFL season|1988]] !! [[1988 Los Angeles Raiders season|RAI]]
| '''16''' || '''16''' || 28 || 549 || 19.6 || 57 || 0
|-
! [[1989 NFL season|1989]] !! [[1989 Buffalo Bills season|BUF]]
| 12 || 2 || 8 || 166 || 20.8 || 47 || 3
|-
! [[1990 NFL season|1990]] !! [[1990 Buffalo Bills season|BUF]]
| '''16''' || 14 || 35 || 712 || 20.3 || 71 || 4 
|-
! [[1991 NFL season|1991]] !! [[1991 Buffalo Bills season|BUF]]
| 15 || 15 || 57 || 1,072 || 18.8 || 77 || '''8'''
|-
! [[1992 NFL season|1992]] !! [[1992 Buffalo Bills season|BUF]]
| '''16''' || 15 || 51 || 786 || 15.4 || 50 || 6
|-
! rowspan="2"|[[1993 NFL season|1993]] !! [[1993 Los Angeles Rams season|LARams]]
| 1 || 0 || 1 || 16 || 16.0 || 16 || 0
|-
! [[1993 Philadelphia Eagles season|PHI]]
| 9 || 2 || 13 || 167 || 12.8 || 32 || 0
|-
! colspan="2"| [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LoftJa00.htm Career] !! 233 !! 212 !! 764 !! 14,004 !! 18.3 !! 80 !! 75
|}

==Personal life==
Lofton and his wife Beverly have three children including [[David Lofton|David]] who also played college football at [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford]].<ref>[https://stanfordmag.org/contents/a-tale-of-two-teams "A Tale of Two Teams," ''Stanford Magazine'' (Stanford University), November/December 2006.] Retrieved February 5, 2022.</ref>{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}  Lofton's cousin, [[Kevin Bass]], was a [[Major League Baseball]] player.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

In October 1984, a dancer at the Marquee Club in Milwaukee accused James Lofton and his Packers teammate [[Eddie Lee Ivery]] of sexual assault. Lofton and Ivery asserted that the acts were consensual. Neither player ended up being charged in the incident due to a lack of evidence. Two years later, Lofton was charged with second-degree sexual assault following an incident in the stairwell of a Green Bay nightclub. He was found not guilty of that charge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onmilwaukee.com/buzz/articles/mkesexscandals.html?page=2 |title=Milwaukee Buzz: Milwaukees most notorious sex scandals |date=March 14, 2009 |publisher=Onmilwaukee.com |access-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{Profootballhof|id=131|name=James Lofton}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=LOF276861 |cfl= |afl= |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |fox= |si= |pfr=L/LoftJa00 |rotoworld=}}

{{1978 NFL Draft}}
{{Green Bay Packers first-round draft picks}}
{{Green Bay Packers 1978 NFL draft picks}}
{{Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame}}
{{Buffalo Bills 50th Season All-time Team}}
{{NFL1980s}}
{{2003 Football HOF}}
{{Pro Football Hall of Fame members}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lofton, James}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:African-American coaches of American football]]
[[Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:American football wide receivers]]
[[Category:Buffalo Bills players]]
[[Category:College football announcers]]
[[Category:Green Bay Packers players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Raiders players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Rams players]]
[[Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:NFL announcers]]
[[Category:Oakland Raiders coaches]]
[[Category:People from Fort Ord, California]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Monterey County, California]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Eagles players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:San Diego Chargers coaches]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from California]]
[[Category:Stanford Cardinal football players]]
[[Category:Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:American men long jumpers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]