Former NFL, NCAA champion dies at 81

Legendary Arkansas Razorbacks running back Jim Lindsey has died, the program announced Monday. He was 81.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="QYQMTAH2XJELNDI735QMMZOW24">“We are saddened by the loss of Arkansas legend Jim Lindsey,” Arkansas football wrote in a post to X. “He made Arkansas a better place in many ways. His friends and family are in our thoughts.”

Lindsey played three seasons at Arkansas from 1963-65 and helped lead the Razorbacks to win the NCAA national championship in 1964. Arkansas finished the 1964 season with a perfect 11-0 record, including a 10-7 win over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl.

The Razorbacks were one of three programs named national champions by various media outlets in 1964. Arkansas was crowned by the Football Writers Association of America while Alabama (Associated Press, United Press International) and Notre Dame (National Football Foundation) were also named champs.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="OSE6AKVPVZDQNEP5R5PR7AKLMI">In three seasons at Arkansas, Lindsey totaled 276 rush attempts for 1,177 yards and seven touchdowns. He also had 40 receptions for 584 yards and four touchdowns. He was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 and Razorbacks Hall of Honor in 1997.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="FZYLEVG5KFE2VMU5FYLPKLWLCA">Lindsey was drafted by the AFL’s Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 1966 AFL Draft and also by the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 1966 NFL Draft, but chose to sign with Minnesota.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="J5CKX7H2BNAQ5FHIKN3R2RFICY">He played seven seasons in the NFL from 1966-72, all with Minnesota, and helped the Vikings win the NFL championship in 1969.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="AZUQXO7TVRBQ3AZ2OKTRXKV4XE">Lindsey finished his NFL career with 178 rush attempts for 566 yards and six touchdowns, as well as 56 receptions for 632 yards and four touchdowns.

Following his football career, Lindsey founded Lindsey Management Co. in 1985, an Arkansas-based real estate firm with more than 800 employees in seven states. He received a $75,000 signing bonus from the Vikings in 1966 and purchased 137 acres of land in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="MBLJGTFRHVEMDIE3ZQ5EHH4MWE">“My dad wanted my brother and me to play ball and enjoy what he wasn’t able to enjoy as a young boy because he had to start working immediately,” Lindsey told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal in 2005. “He wanted us to get an education, and that was a whole different motivation in his mindset where he came from.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="6255OICGF5C27NASXNZE7YUUSU">“I’ve told some people here that when I was a kid, the thought of going to the University of Arkansas was just like thinking of going to Yankee Stadium in New York [City] and hitting three home runs. I mean it was just way out of my thought processes. It was a dream, a fantasy, and all of those fantasies came true for me, every one of them,” he added.

class="article__paragraph article__paragraph--left" id="JD7TMDMH6NHFVPXQJXQPBGKCMA">Arkansas football head coach Ryan Silverfield issued a statement Monday remembering the late Razorbacks legend.

“Jim Lindsey was an incredible man,” Silverfield wrote in a post to X. “His name is one of the first names mentioned as a cornerstone of Arkansas football. The influence he had as a player and later in life with his support in several ways is undeniable. His legacy lives on through his incredible family. We will keep them in our thoughts as they handle the loss of an Arkansas legend.”

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