Harold Jackson played college ball at Jackson State from 1964-68.
Not only was a prolific WR, but also a speedy track man, setting a record 9.3 second 100 yard dash at the school.
Led the SWAC in receiving in both 1965 (46 catches for 612 yards and 11 TDs), and in 1966 (56 catches for 878 yards and 8 TDs).
12th round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1968.
After appearing in just 2 games his rookie season, was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Led the league in receiving yards in ’69 with 1,116.
In 1972, led the NFL in both catches (62) and yards (1,048).
Harold was traded back to the Rams in 1973 for Roman Gabriel.
On 40 catches, he had a league leading 13 TDs.
Was traded to the New England Patriots in 1978.
In 1979, posted 1,013 yards receiving and a career high 22.5 yards per reception.
Played briefly in 1982 for the Vikings, and rounded out career in ’83 with the Seahawks.
Suited up during the Players Strike in ’87 for the Patriots, but didn’t play.
Has a long and prolific coaching career at a variety of pro, semi-rpo and college levels, as a positional and head coach.
Among his pro stops were with the Patriots (85-89), New Orleans Night (1991), Bucs (1992-93), Saints (1997-99), Hartford Colonials (2011), and Sacramento Mountain Lions (2012).
In 2014, Harold served as head coach for his Alma Mater Jackson State from 2014-15.
ACCOLADES:
AP 1973
2nd Team AP 1972, ’77
Pro Bowl 1969, ’72-73, ’75, ’77
Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame
NOTES:
I’ve never had anyone personalize my cards in quotations- but okay.
Despite finishing near the top of the statistical receiving charts at the time of his career- spanning 3 eras from the 60s to the 80s, Harold has not been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Whether it’s a combination of the infamous logger jam at receiver, or the fact his stats just don’t stand out as much because it was during the dead ball era, Harold is still waiting to hear his name called.
It’s interesting, cracking down on Harold’s stats, that he has such a high yards per reception (17.9 on 579 catches), but his longest catch is just 79 yards.
Great cards- Always love the Topps 71 set. It’s classy, and it’s grown on me over the years specifically. It’s still a casual collect for me, but among Topps sets it’s one of my favorites.
After I had received my autographs from Tim mangled in the mail back in 2012-ish, I decided to give him another shot in 2022. He still had quite a few cards that I had wanted to get signed, and some great set needs that appeared after the fact.
Although his Action Packed 1992 was not a set need, it’s a beautiful action shot of him playing with his notable reckless abandon, amazingly after his broken leg in Super Bowl XXIII left him with a metal rod down his leg. There’s a lot of great detail in the photo, with even a ‘waterboy’s’ face slightly out of focus- but watching in awe alongside a Bengals player.
Card: Hartford Colonials 2010 Team Issued Card Acquired: TTM 2021, C/o Home Sent: 2/22 Received: 3/11 (17 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Chris Palmer was a QB for Southern Connecticut State from 1969 to 1971.
He quickly went into coaching in 1972 seeing stops with Connecticut, Lehigh, and Colgate as a positional coach.
After working with the Montreal Concordes of the CFL in 1983, he worked in the USFL with the New Jersey Generals in 84 and 85.
Palmer’s first HC gig came in 1986, where he’d work with New Haven, and later Boston University.
His first taste of the NFL came with the Houston Oilers in 1990 as a WR coach, before working with the Patriots from 1993-1996.
After helping Jacksonville’s offense reach new heights in 97/98, Chris was named head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1999.
He’d work as the OC for the expansion Houston Texans in 2002. A position he’d hold through the 2005 season.
Palmer worked with the Cowboys (06) and Giants (07-09) as a QB coach.
In 2010 Chris would serve as both the GM and the HC of the Hartford Colonials of the UFL- posting a 3-5 record.
Chris spent the next few years working with the Titans, 49ers, and Bills, and in 2019 worked as an AD with New Haven.
ACCOLADES:
New Haven Chargers Athletics Hall of Fame 1997
NFL
Coach Chris Palmer, 62 Cafe
NOTES:
Tony Sparano, Romeo Crennel and Ken Whisenhunt are considered children of the Chris Palmer tree. Chris himself is considered an acolyte of the Bill Parcells tree, although an argument could be made he was from the Jack Pardee tree, since he gave him his first professional break at the NFL level with the Oilers. Chris is also considered to be one of the major architects behind the maturation of Eli Manning as a passer. While coaching with the Browns, Palmer appeared as himself on an episode of The Drew Carey Show.
Hi Lee,
Good to hear from you. The Oilers were great! Beating Dallas opening nite was outstanding. The UFL was a fun time.
Love Football,
Chris Palmer
Palmer has always had a fond place in my heart, since he was a coach with the Houston Oilers, and was the OC with the Texans when they beat the Cowboys in their Franchise debut (02). I had been looking for some sort of card of his for years but I gave up sometime ago, when a friend of mine CFLFanInPhilly sent me this card (along with a stack of others) to try to get autographed. I jumped at the chance to add Chris. He added this very nice note and wrote up a play for me as well (52 Cafe).
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Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
