Jim Nance

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James Solomon “Big Jim” Nance (December 30, 1942 – June 17, 1992) was an American football fullback who starred for the Boston Patriots in the AFL. Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, he excelled in wrestling in high school and at Syracuse University, where he won NCAA heavyweight titles in 1963 and 1965 and set school rushing marks while tying the record for career touchdowns. He was drafted in 1965 by both the NFL and AFL; he chose to sign with the AFL’s Boston Patriots.

Nance’s early NFL season wasn’t impressive, but he soon became an AFL standout. In 1966 he led the league in rushing with 1,458 yards and 11 touchdowns, earning AFL MVP honors and All-Star selection. He repeated as an AFL rushing champion in 1967 with 1,216 yards. At 6 feet 1 inch and about 260 pounds, he was a powerful runner who carried the ball 299 times in 1966. He retired as the Patriots’ all-time rushing touchdowns leader with 45 and remains the only Patriot to win an AFL rushing title.

After leaving the Patriots, Nance played for the New York Jets in 1973 and then for the World Football League’s Houston Texans/Shreveport Steamer in 1974–75, where he became the league’s all-time leading rusher with 2,007 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. He also served in the Massachusetts National Guard and supported scholarships for aspiring African American lawyers.

Nance faced health challenges later in life, including a 1983 heart attack and a 1984 stroke that left him temporarily unable to walk. His daughter Nicole died after a car accident in 1991. Jim Nance died in 1992 in Quincy, Massachusetts, from acute cardiac arrhythmia. He was posthumously honored by induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2009 and is remembered as one of the AFL’s great rushers and a key figure in Patriots history.