Jefferson was born on November 9, 1943, in Texarkana, Arkansas.[1] He grew up in southernCalifornia and graduated from Compton High School in 1961.[2] He played basketball and football at Compton. His Compton High football team jersey number 80 was retired in 2018, in the school's hall of fame jersey retirement celebration.[3]
In 2016, Jefferson was one of five Compton alumni honored in a "Golden Five" ceremony, celebrating those Compton alumni who played in the Super Bowl.[4]
College football
He played college football at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City,[5] where he played on the varsity from 1962-64.[6] In 1963, he led the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in pass receptions (29), receiving yards (435), and receiving touchdowns (4), and was third in average yards per reception.[7]
Jefferson received All-Western Athletic Conference honors,[8] and was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in his senior season in 1964[citation needed]under head coach Ray Nagel, the 1964 WAC coach of the year.[9][10]
Jefferson played on both sides of the ball, playing receiver and running back, as well playing defense,[8] and also was the placekicker. He led the Utes to 32–6 victory in the Liberty Bowl over favored West Virginia, with key receptions, to finish with a 9–2 record.[11][8][9] The game was played indoors on natural grass at the convention center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and featured shortened end zones.[12][13][14]
Professional career
Jefferson was a 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 195 lb (88 kg) receiver, who was nicknamed "Sweat Pea".[1][15]
Pittsburgh Steelers
Selected in the second round of the 1965 NFL draft, 18th overall,[16] Jefferson spent his first five NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1965–1969).[1] In 1968, Jefferson led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,074, and tied for the league lead in punt returns (28). His 58 receptions and 11 touchdowns were both 2nd highest in the NFL that season. He was third in punt return average (9.8 yards/return) and scored one touchdown on a punt return.[17] Jefferson finished the 1969 season with a career-high 67 receptions for 1,079 yards and nine touchdowns, and became the first Steelers receiver to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.[1][18] In his five Steelers' seasons, Jefferson started 56 of the 65 regular season games in which he played, with 199 receptions for 3,671 yards (18.4 average) and 29 touchdowns.[19]
Despite being the Steelers' best offensive player, conflicts with head coach Chuck Noll as the team's player representative resulted in a trade to the Baltimore Colts for Willie Richardson and a 1971 fourth-round selection (104th overall–Dwight White) in an exchange of receivers who had fallen out of favor with their old teams on August 20, 1970.[22][23][24] With the Colts for only one season, Jefferson helped them reach and win Super Bowl V.[25] He finished the 1970 regular season with 44 receptions for 749 yards and seven touchdowns.[1] He caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Unitas in the Colts 17–0 divisional playoff win over the Cincinnati Bengals,[26] and caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Unitas while dragging a defender into the endzone.[27] Jefferson had three receptions for 52 yards in the Colts 16–13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl.[28]
After coming from the 1–13 Steelers in 1969,[29] and winning the Super Bowl with the Colts in 1970, his one year with the Colts was his favorite season in the NFL.[27] His Colts teammate and roommate John Mackey was his hero.[27] Mackey was the first president of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), and Jefferson was one of the NFL players most prominently involved with the NFLPA as a player representative, and in the 1974 players' strike.[30][31]
In his first Washington season, he caught 47 passes (his high with the team), and was selected to play in the 1971 Pro Bowl.[1][36] The AP and Pro Football Weekly named Jefferson first team All-Conference.[1] Over the next three years, he caught 119 passes for nearly 1,800 yards.[1] The team reached the playoffs in five of his six years in Washington.[37]
In 2012, he was selected as one of the 80 greatest Washington players.[15]
In the ensuing years, his endeavors have included owning a chain of barbecue restaurants with the last closing in 1992 and owning a catering business.[40] As of 2006, he was working in the real estate business. He reported that he and his wife had three children and four grandchildren.[41]
Jefferson is the cousin of tight end Marv Fleming; they were teammates in high school and college, but were on opposing sides during Super Bowl VII.[2] Jefferson left Utah for the NFL in 1965, but returned to school in the off-seasons and completed his bachelor's degree in June 1970.[42]
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