 Christiansen c. 1952 | |||||||||
| No. 19, 24 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Safety, Return specialist | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | December 20, 1928 Sublette, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | June 29, 1986 (aged 57) Stanford, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Colorado A&M | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1951 / round: 6 / pick: 69 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| As a player: | |||||||||
| As a coach: | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||
| Career: | NFL: 26–38–3 (.410) NCAA: 30–22–3 (.573) | ||||||||
| Record at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||
Jack LeRoy Christiansen (December 20, 1928 – June 29, 1986) was an American professional football player who became a college and pro coach. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions as a safety and return specialist from 1951 to 1958. He helped lead the Lions to three NFL championships in 1952, 1953, and 1957 and was a first-team All-NFL player in six of his eight years in the league. He led the NFL in interceptions in 1953 and 1957 and in punt returns for touchdown in 1951, 1952, 1954, and 1956. His eight career punt returns for touchdowns was an NFL record until 1989 and remains the fourth best in league history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970.[1]
After retiring as a player, Christiansen served as a football coach for 25 years from 1959 to 1983, including stints as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, compiling a 26–38–3 record from 1963 to 1967,[2] and at Stanford, where he compiled a 30–22–3 record from 1972 to 1976.[3] He concluded his career as an assistant coach for the Kansas City Chiefs (1977), Seattle Seahawks (1978–1982), and Atlanta Falcons (1983).
- ^ "Former NFL star dies after surgery". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 30, 1986. p. 2B.
- ^ "Jack Christiansen NFL Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
- ^ "Jack Christiansen College Coaching Record". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on March 30, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.