Jim Eidson is a graduate of Morgan County High School in Hartselle, Alabama. After high school he played for Mississippi State University as a stand-out offensive lineman. At Mississippi State, he received his Bachelor of Science degree and later completed a Master’s Degree in Business Administration in Finance Strategy, Marketing and Business Policy at Southern Methodist University. Jim is currently President of Precedent Equities, LLC., which specializes in commercial real estate and development with a Health Care focus. He is a proud father and devoted husband. He and his wife, Jana Beth make their home in Dallas, Texas.
I remember him as “Jimmy”, wearing his letter sweater and towering above the rest of us as we walked the halls in high school. Since he was just a bit ahead of me in school, I admit that he seemed way out of my league at the time! Jim is fabulously talented and has achieved what many would describe as the pinnacle for college football players. These talents and achievements took him to the NFL and beyond to a successful business career. I feel honored by his friendship and grateful that our Hartselle roots have granted me the privilege of this interview.
Charlsa: I know you played football for the larger portion of your young life, but at what age did you become a “starter” and where did you first play?
Jim: My first attempt at organized football was the summer before the 7th grade. I came to practice in my steel spiked baseball shoes. I made it without notice until about 3 plays into a scrimmage and some of the offensive players began telling the coach that I was stepping on them with my steel cleats. The coach advised me to go home and tell my parents that I needed some football shoes. In those days, football cleats had steel tips as well, so I didn’t see the big difference.
I started on that team as a middle guard or nose guard and also as a 3 technique tackle on defense. The 3 technique lined up on the outside shoulder of the offensive guard. That was the fall of 1966. Most of the time, if you were a starter on one side of the ball, be it offense or defense, you were expected to start on the opposite side of the ball, i.e., specialization was not the norm.
Charlsa: Did you start out in High School as an Offensive lineman?
Jim: I started both ways in high school, both offensive and defensive tackle.
Charlsa: I’m told that the size of linemen in the SEC has changed since your college playing days. What major differences do you see from those days and the SEC offensive linemen in 2011?
Jim: The weight difference is substantial . . . during college I played at approximately 255-265 lbs. That’s about 35-40 lbs. lighter than today’s norm. The most
significant difference is speed. In my era, we used solo tackle sweeps and guard & tackle sweeps. We could get to the POA (Point of Attack) and turn up-field to lead the sweep play. Sweeps are very rare in today’s game, because the linemen are generally too big to get to the outside perimeter in the allotted time. Additionally, we mixed in the use of crab blocks techniques that were popularized by Bryant’s “small player” teams of the 1960’s. The crab block is what it sounds like . . . the offensive lineman quickly moves into his opposing players legs while on his hands and feet. We used regular crab blocks and reverse crab blocks. The reverse crab is when you lead your head to one side or the other of the defensive down lineman and “invite” them to fight the pressure and just as they start moving in opposition to the pressure, you spin your legs around them in the opposite direction.
On a straight zone blocking play, today’s linemen use a form of tripod blocking with their head and hands. Because the use of hands was much more restrictive in my era, I used what many call the swimmer’s technique. Think of a swimmer poised to spring from the starting blocks for a 50 or 100 meter race. Note that when they take off from the platform their straight arms are drawn behind them, much like cocking a spring, to create more momentum when they leave the platform. This was my technique from a crouched position. I would lead with my forehead and “cock the spring” to create maximum impact to my aim point, the opposing player’s sternum. Upon contact with the sternum, I would bring my cocked fists directly into the solar plexus, slightly behind the initial contact. Defensive players find it hard to react to the ball when they can’t catch their breath.
Charlsa: I certainly see your point! Can you tell us about a “stand-out” moment while playing as a Miss State Bulldog?
Jim: A moment that changed my life came in the spring of 1974, the spring of my sophomore year in college. I had been moved from defensive tackle to offensive tackle and was trying to make my way to be the starter at right tackle. We had a defensive end by the name of Jimmy Webb who was All-SEC and All American at MSU. He would later be the #1 pick of the SF 49’ers in the spring of 1975.
Jimmy Webb was about 6’5” and 250 lbs., and it was nearly impossible to hook block Webb on a wide play to his side of the field. First, he was very long armed and as a result maintained good leverage up and down the line; second, he lined up a little wider than most defensive ends because he could close the inside gap in a big hurry when he needed to; and, lastly he was just a very tenacious player. If you blocked Webb, you had to earn it.
During a 100 play marathon Spring scrimmage, we ran a 48 toss (outside play to my side of the line), and I was able to get leverage on Webb by hooking his outside shoulder with my head and inside shoulder. I continued the block and took him to the ground and as I looked up from the ground I saw the trailing linebacker and was able to put him on the ground as well.
I did not know it until later, but Red Hickey, the former Head Coach of the 49’ers and the then current chief scout for the Dallas Cowboys was watching our spring scrimmage from the stands. As a result of that play I became a marked prospect for the Dallas Cowboys.
Charlsa: That’s an amazing story, Jim; right time-right place! But, you know what they say, “there are no coincidences”.
As a 2nd round draft pick in 1976 for The Dallas Cowboys, you were certainly marked as an outstanding player. Would you tell us a bit about your experiences in the “pros”?
Jim: I never aspired to play pro ball. My focus was on college ball, as a means of paying my way to college. Following my senior season in college, I began
receiving invitations to several post season games, to include the Blue Gray, East-West Shrine, Senior Bowl, Coaches’ All America, and the College All Star
Game. Based on my experiences with these games, I was confident that I could compete at the next level (pro ball). In April of 1976 the Cowboys selected me
in the 2nd round of the NFL draft. Following college, I moved to Dallas to begin working out and learning the Cowboy system. So, in retrospect I would say that there wasn’t much time to consider if I was “living the dream” or not. Pro ball is a very different experience than you might think. It is all about the highest levels of competition and the business end of sport. Not much rah-rah.
My pro career was cut short by a spinal cord injury that I received in my 3rd year at Dallas. I had “stingers” as a high school and college player, but as I
matured the born spurs that had developed on the upper portion of my spine had grown inward toward my spinal cord. Of course I was unaware of any of these developments until my final play in football, which was a one on one pass protection drill with Ed “Too Tall” Jones in the summer of 1978 during Cowboy’s training camp in Thousand Oaks, CA. Ed’s favorite move was the right shoulder grab using his left hand followed by the right hand over the top or swim move. He had a tendency to fully expose his sternum during this move and we played against each other in practice each day, and as a result I had a depth of experience with all of his techniques. On this particular play, we were taking part in our daily ritual of one on one and two on two pass protection. These drills were always filmed from above so that we could review our techniques (feet, hand placements, knee bend, and explosiveness) in that evening’s group film sessions.
As usual Ed exposed his sternum in the swim move and I countered his move with a right fist parry into the bicep/tricep (nerve area) of his outstretched left arm and “cocked my spring coil” and exploded into his chest with my headgear. Upon contact Ed’s feet left the ground and both of us fell backwards on the ground. Ed got up following the play, but I did not. I had no feeling from my neck to my toes. As the feeling returned over the next few days, I was flown to Dallas for further testing and evaluation.
Charlsa: Oh my, how frightening that must have been! I had no idea you had been through an ordeal like that. I can see that as quite a perspective changer.
Charlsa: On a completely different note, would you tell us bit about some of the other “personalities” that were there with you?
Jim: Coach Landry had essentially rebuilt more than half of the team in two drafts, 1975 (12 players) and 1976 (11 players). In those days there were 43
players for each team, and no practice squad or taxi squad. So, you either made it or you didn’t. No gray areas.
Those teams were in Super Bowl X (lost to Pittsburg), Super Bowl XII (won against Denver), and Super Bowl XIII (lost to Pittsburg).
Some of my teammates included: Mel Renfro (NFL HOF) Lee Roy Jordan, Randy White (NFL HOF), Roger Staubach (NFL HOF), Harvey Martin, Ed Jones, Rayfield “Big Cat” Wright (NFL HOF), Tony Dorsett (NFL HOF), and D.D. Lewis (MSU HOF and College Football HOF).
Charlsa: What direction did your career take following your injury? Can you identify the value of the lessons you learned as a player in regards to your development as a businessman, husband and a dad?
Jim: When the neurologists determined that I shouldn’t play the game anymore and I retired from football in Dallas, I went into commercial real estate as a
broker. I would call on property owners and they would always want to “talk about football” or to see my Super Bowl XII Championship ring. After about a
month of that, I figured out that I was not getting any business done. So, I parked the ring in my safety deposit box, and it helped redirect the conversation back to business. I occasionally will bring the ring out for a special occasion, like a high school reunion, etc.
Today, my football background is usually a surprise to most people that I interact with in business. I never wanted to be “one of those players” that sat around and relived the past, much like the character in “Everybody’s All American.” For many guys, football was the “end game.” I always viewed football as a means to
an end . . . a way of providing my own path for further education and advancement.
In a nutshell, athletics enhanced my natural tendency to take calculated risks and to apply commitment and resolve to stated objectives. It taught me to “look
beyond hills” (impediments to progress), and that outcomes can rarely be found in the local barbershop.
As for my home, my wife and grown children would be the better judges of football’s impact. I will say that I always have encouraged my wife and kids to pursue their own passions. I always told our son, Grant, that I would rather see him take up golf rather than football, but some things are just genetically
predetermined. He became a 1st Team All State (Texas) and Dallas Morning News 1st Team ALL Metro guard while playing at Highland Park High School in Dallas. He received a full athletic scholarship to SMU and started as a guard for 2 years. He just completed law school at the University of Oklahoma and sat for the Texas Bar Exam in July 2011.
Charlsa: I can only imagine how proud you must be of your children and their accomplishments. I’d like to say that your life and your accomplishments have inspired me.
Playing on the offensive line is a body-punishing deal as evidenced by the spinal injury you incurred. Were there other injuries?
Jim: Beside the spinal injury, four knee surgeries that began when I was 16 in Hartselle. Multiple dislocated fingers. Hyper extended elbows and 2 or 3 concussions.
Charlsa: Got it…whew.
As a Dallas resident, I would love to hear your thoughts on “conference re-alignment” and specifically, what you think about the Texas A&M departure from the Big 12 and the direction that conference will take afterward.
Jim: It’s all about the $. The potential loss of regional rivalries is a tragedy. Can you imagine a day when Auburn and Alabama may not play in the last game of the season? I couldn’t imagine that their game would not be played at Legion Field in Birmingham, but things change. Last evening, OU’s Bob Stoops was talking about OU potential departure from the Red River Shootout (Texas vs OU) at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. I guess it is human nature to continue to tinker in an effort to stay competitive as a team, but some things are just better left in their unfettered state of condition. I long for the days of Johnny Unitas and
his high top black football cleats. I saw Maryland’s new uniforms the other day and they looked like a joke. Collegiate and pro-football are redirecting their games to a different audience. Apparently gangster rap is the common denominator. It’s beginning to look like a caricature or parody of what once was real tradition.
I can see the day coming when college football players will be paid (legally) for play. Billions of dollars are being generated and it would seem a natural extension for competition to dictate that the best players will go the highest dollars (especially if regionalism dies).
Charlsa: Traditional rivalries are so much a part of football here in the South. I sure hope we don’t see those become watered-down and anemic shadows of what they once were.
Thank you so much, Jim. Your knowledge and insight is wonderful and I appreciate the clarity with which you explained the “football” terminology! We “girls” are trying to learn as much as we can.
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