Coy Bacon

From college dropout to a semi-professional league to going undrafted, Coy Bacon took an unconventional path to the NFL becoming one of the league’s all-time greatest pass rushers during a career that spanned more than a decade.

Born in Cadiz, Kentucky, Bacon moved to Ironton, Ohio, prior to high school. He starred in both basketball and football at Ironton High School. Despite his athleticism, major colleges largely overlooked him. He chose to play football at Jackson State University but left after his junior year to join the semi-pro ranks.

Bacon’s first break came when the Dallas Cowboys signed him as a free agent, although he never appeared in a regular-season game for the team. During a rookie scrimmage, Los Angeles Rams head coach George Allen took notice, prompting the Rams to trade for him. In Los Angeles, Bacon quickly made his presence felt, joining the legendary “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line alongside Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Roger Brown, and Lamar Lundy. After spending his rookie year as a reserve, he earned a starting spot in his second season and went on to play five years with the Rams, earning his first Pro Bowl selection in 1972.

In 1973, Bacon was traded to the San Diego Chargers, where he spent three seasons. His time in San Diego was highlighted by an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown in his first year. In 1976, he was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, where he silenced critics and cemented his reputation as one of the league’s most disruptive defensive linemen. That season, he unofficially recorded 26 sacks—a total that would have set the NFL single-season record had sacks been an official statistic at the time—and earned the first of back-to-back Pro Bowl selections with Cincinnati (1976, 1977). Though he played only two seasons in the Queen City, Bacon was honored decades later with a place on the Bengals’ All-Time 50th Anniversary Team in 2017.

In 1978, Bacon was traded to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a first-round draft pick. The following year, he led the team with 13.5 sacks. After 14 seasons in the NFL, he concluded his career with Washington in 1981. Following a year away from the game, Bacon made a brief return in 1983, joining the USFL’s Washington Federals.

After retiring from football, Bacon briefly worked as a professional wrestler before encountering legal trouble. He was charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession in Washington and later survived a shooting at his apartment, suffering a wound to the abdomen.

Bacon described the shooting as “a wake-up call,” prompting him to turn his life around and embrace his faith as a born-again Christian. Returning to his hometown of Ironton, he became a juvenile corrections officer and a respected pillar of the community.

On December 22, 2008, Coy Bacon passed away in Ironton. City leaders hailed him as a “true hero,” remembered for the positive impact he made on the small southern Ohio town he proudly called home.

Images from Pro Football Journal and Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia. Biography by John T. Broome.