Date of birth August 3, 1946 Role American football player Name Jim Duncan | Kick returns 42 College Maryland Eastern Shore Positions Cornerback | |
Place of birth Lancaster, South Carolina, United States Date of death October 21, 1972 (age 26) Place of death Lancaster, South Carolina Died October 21, 1972, Lancaster, South Carolina, United States Education University of Maryland Eastern Shore NFL draft 1968 (Round: 4 / Pick: 107) | ||
Jim Duncan (August 3, 1946 – October 21, 1972), nicknamed "Butch", was a professional American football player. He played defensive back for the Baltimore Colts and New Orleans Saints between 1969 and 1972. He started in Super Bowl V for the Colts. He was found to have committed suicide with a policeman's revolver in 1972.
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Early life
Duncan was born in Lancaster, South Carolina in 1946. He grew up with future professional football player Bill Belk. Duncan attended Barr Street High School in Lancaster. Duncan attended Maryland State College (MSC). He played quarterback and safety at MSC, in addition to playing on the school's baseball and basketball teams. He earned all-conference honors in football in 1967 and appeared in the 1968 Chicago College All-Star Game.
Career
Duncan was selected by the Colts in the fourth round of the 1968 NFL Draft. In 1970, Duncan won a starting position during the season and he intercepted two passes in the team's last four games. On special teams that year, he averaged 35.4 yards per return on 20 kick returns. He was a starter for the Colts in their Super Bowl V victory that year.
In 1971, Duncan began the season with a starting position, but he experienced injury problems for much of the year. At one point in November, he sustained a head injury. Though X-rays were negative, his mother later said that he began to complain of memory problems after the injury. During that season, team officials began to notice a change in Duncan's personality. His affable disposition had turned sullen and Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom was concerned enough to hold some private conversations with Duncan about whether he was having personal problems.
Duncan was traded to the New Orleans Saints in 1972. He joined the Miami Dolphins later that season, but he was cut from the team. His marriage ended, he lost between $22,000 and $58,000 in a wig business, and he received treatment for mental health problems and a bleeding ulcer. Police officers said that he was under surveillance for drug-related activities.
Death
On October 21, 1972, Duncan walked into a police station in his hometown of Lancaster. Police officials said that he grabbed a pistol from one of the officers and shot himself in the head. An inquest later supported this account of Duncan's death, but the ruling angered his family members, who cited inconsistencies in some of the events surrounding Duncan's death.