“JAG” (“Just A Guy”) is a term that Bill Parcells used when coaching the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006. The term refers to a football player who is no different than any other football player and who doesn’t have the exceptional qualities to shine on the field on a consistent basis. “JAG” has been cited in print since at least March 2003.
A similar acronym is “RKG” (“Right Kind of Guy”).
Wikipedia: Bill Parcells
Duane Charles “Bill” Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is a former American football head coach, most recently with the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006. He is known as “The Big Tuna”, a nickname about the shape of his physique derived from a team joke during his tenure as linebackers coach of the New England Patriots.
9 March 2003, Newsday (Long Island, NY), “A Bevy Of Big-Bucks Blunders In Beltway” By Bob Glauber, pg. B14:
There’s an expression NFL personnel people use to describe players like Noble: “Just a guy.” That’s JAG for short. Enough said.
20 April 2004, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Parcellsisms” by Jean-Jacques Taylor:
PARCELLS TERM: JAG player
MEANING: A player who is just a guy—an average player who doesn’t matter in the big picture.
FootballsFuture.com Forum
frankmoore
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2005 10:52 pm Post subject:
(...)
He’s JAG (just a guy) as Parcells would say.
Google Books
Best St. Louis Sports Arguments
By Bryan Burwell
Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc.
2007
Pg. 89:
He was the ultimate JAG (“Just A Guy”), who played in the league yet never left a lasting footprint.
Google Books
Total Access:
A Journey to the Center of the NFL Universe
By Rich Eisen
New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books (St. Martin’s Press)
2007
Pg. 130:
JAG: Just a guy.
Yahoo\o! Sports
Best days behind Moss?
By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports
April 29, 2007
(...)
In that same time span, Moss has become little more than a JAG. In scouting vernacular that’s a term for “Just A Guy,” a random player who is roster flotsam. That’s a bit of overstatement, but not by much.
14 August 2008, Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, “Fringe Steelers must seize chances where they can”:
Baker is JAG—scouting vernacular for “just a guy.”
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“I read old books because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•Entry in progress—BP19 (4/18)
•Entry in progress—BP18 (4/18)
•Entry in progress—BP17 (4/18)
•Entry in progress—BP16 (4/18)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.