James Lofton

Lofton prepped at George Washington High School in Los Angeles, California where he played quarterback and safety.[2]

Lofton played college football at Stanford University. As a senior in 1977, he received 57 passes for 1,010 yards (17.72 yards per reception average) with 14 touchdowns, and was an AP & NEA second team All-American selection. Lofton was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity, and earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1978.[3]

Lofton was drafted in the first round (sixth overall) of the 1978 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He was named to the NFL Pro Bowl eight times (seven with the Packers, one with the Bills). He was also named to four All-Pro teams. He also played in three Super Bowls during his career with the Bills.[5] Lofton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

In his 16 NFL seasons, Lofton caught 764 passes for 14,004 yards and 75 touchdowns. He averaged 20 yards per catch or more in five seasons, leading the league in 1983 and 1984 with an average of 22.4 and 22 yards respectively. He also rushed 32 times for 246 yards and one touchdown.

Lofton is the first NFL player to record 14,000 yards receiving and was the second (one game after Drew Hill) to score a touchdown in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. During his nine seasons in Green Bay, Lofton played in seven Pro Bowls and left as the team's all-time leading receiver with 9,656 yards (since broken by Donald Driver). On the retirement of Steve Largent, Lofton became the NFL's active leader in receiving yards at the start of 1990, through to his retirement in 1993. In 1991, Lofton became the oldest player to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season (since broken by Jerry Rice). On October 21, of that same year, Lofton became the oldest player to record 200 yards receiving as well as 200 yards from scrimmage in a game (35 years, 108 days). He is also the 2nd oldest player to have 200+ all purpose yards in a game behind Mel Gray, (35 years, 204 days).

Lofton wore #86 while with the Buffalo Bills in 1989. After the 1989 season, and the departure of Flip Johnson he switched to #80.

Lofton became the wide receiver coach for the San Diego Chargers in 2002 and continued that role until he was fired on January 22, 2008. Lofton was later announced as a candidate to become head coach for Oakland Raiders in 2007 but the job would later go to Lane Kiffin. In 2008, the Raiders hired him as their wide receivers coach.[6] On January 13, 2009, Lofton was let go by the Oakland Raiders and replaced by Sanjay Lal.

Lofton served as a color analyst and sideline reporter for NFL coverage on Westwood One radio from 1999–2001. In 2009, he re-joined the network to team with Dave Sims and later Kevin Kugler on Sunday Night Football broadcasts. He moved to a television position on the NFL on CBS in 2017, replacing the departing Solomon Wilcots.[7]

Lofton and his wife, Beverly, have three children, including David who is a football player who most recently played for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Lofton's cousin, Kevin Bass, was a Major League Baseball player.[8]

In October 1984, a dancer at the Marquee Club in Milwaukee accused James Lofton and his Packers teammate Eddie Lee Ivery of sexual assault. Lofton and Ivery asserted that the acts were consensual. Neither player ended up being charged in the incident due to a lack of evidence. Two years later, Lofton was charged with second-degree sexual assault following an incident in the stairwell of a Green Bay nightclub. He was found not guilty of that charge.[9]

• James Lofton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference