Johnny Majors - Playing Career

Playing Career

Majors played high school football for the Huntland Hornets of Franklin County, Tennessee. They won the state championship in 1951. Majors' father, Shirley Majors, was the head coach at Huntland from 1949 to 1957 and then head coach at The University of the South, Sewanee, from 1957 to 1977. Majors also played alongside his brother, Joe, at Huntland. Another brother, Bobby, also played at Tennessee and professionally for the Cleveland Browns. In all, Majors had four brothers, who all played football. Johnny was the oldest.

A triple-threat tailback at the University of Tennessee, one of the last schools to use the single-wing rather than some version of the T formation, Majors was an All-American and runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1956. Majors lost the Heisman Trophy to Paul Hornung, who starred for Notre Dame, who had a losing record (2–8). To date, this is the only time the Heisman Trophy has been awarded to a player on a losing team. Many fans of college football, particularly Tennessee fans, believe that Hornung won the Heisman because he played for the storied Notre Dame program, although Hornung did lead his team in passing, rushing, scoring, kickoff and punt returns, punting, and passes broken up and was second in interceptions and tackles made.

Majors is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 1957 and then became an assistant coach at several schools.