Jack Youngblood

Herbert Jackson Youngblood III (born January 26, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a five-time consensus All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Before playing professionally, Youngblood played college football for the University of Florida, and was recognized as an All-American. He is considered among the best players Florida ever produced—a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and one of only six Florida Gators to be named to the Gator Football Ring of Honor.

After retiring as a player in 1985, Youngblood worked in the Rams' front office until 1991. He also worked in the front office of the Sacramento Surge of the World League (WLAF) from 1992 to 1993, and the Canadian Football League (CFL)'s Sacramento Gold Miners from 1993 to 1994. He was a vice-president, then president, of the Orlando Predators from 1995 until 1999. From 1999 through 2002, he served as the NFL's liaison for the Arena Football League (AFL).Youngblood has made forays into broadcasting (both radio and television), acting, and business, and has written an autobiography. He was a popular spokesperson for various products, and he has been consistently involved in charity work, starting in college, continuing throughout his NFL career, and remaining so today. Currently, Youngblood serves on the NFLPA Mackey-White Traumatic Brain Injury Committee.In 2014, Youngblood opened the Jack Youngblood Center for NeuroEnhancement in Orlando, Florida, which attempts to treat the symptoms of traumatic brain injury and offer care to patients in effort to restore normal brain function. Youngblood has stated, "The bonus with this therapy is that the time invested is minimal, while the results are extraordinary." In 1988, Youngblood authored (with Joel Engel) his autobiography, Blood. The book outlined Youngblood's drive and passion for professional football and reviewed his career, his injuries, his successes, and his failures on the football field. The book recounts when, between the 1973 and 1974 seasons, Youngblood traveled to Logan, Utah, to help Rams teammates Merlin and Phil Olsen with their summer football camp. An altercation in the parking lot of a local pub resulted in Youngblood having a .44 pistol stuck in his eye and the trigger pulled and fortunately the chamber was empty, although other chambers were not. A cut eyelid was the only injury he sustained. After initially pleading innocent, the assailant later pleaded guilty and received a one-year suspended sentence. The book was favorably reviewed by Publishers Weekly as "an unusual sports book."