43 Fun Facts About Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars joined the NFL in 1995 as an expansion team alongside which other franchise?

Carolina Panthers and Jaguars alike tore up the expansion script: in 1996, only their second season, both reached their conference championship games.

Which city was favourite for the second 1993 NFL expansion franchise before Jacksonville won it?

St. Louis and Baltimore got their teams anyway a few years later, by taking the Rams and Browns from other cities.

What was the name of the ownership group organised in 1989 to bring the NFL to north-east Florida?

Touchdown Jacksonville! pulled out of the race in July 1993 in a row with the city over stadium renovations, then got back in when fans bought 10,000 club seats in 10 days.

Owner Wayne Weaver said the teal tongue on the Jaguars' logo came from what?

Feeding Panthers to his team was Weaver's joke about the snarling cat's head, adopted after carmaker Jaguar objected that the original leaping cat looked too much like its own.

Who was the Jaguars' first head coach, hired in February 1994?

Tom Coughlin kept the clocks in the team building five minutes fast so players turned up early; staff put them right the day after the Jaguars fired him from the front office in 2019.

The Jaguars' first-ever draft pick, second overall in 1995, was which future Hall of Fame tackle?

Tony Boselli went first again in 2002, when Houston took him to open its expansion draft, but a wrecked shoulder meant he never played a down for the Texans.

Which veteran quarterback, the Jaguars' first expansion-draft pick, threw the franchise's first touchdown pass in 1995?

Steve Beuerlein hit Randy Jordan for 71 yards in Cincinnati, then sprained his knee before half-time; Mark Brunell came on and ran in the franchise's first rushing touchdown.

Left-handed quarterback Mark Brunell came to Jacksonville after being drafted by which team?

Green Bay Packers starter Brett Favre never missed a game, so Brunell threw just 27 passes there before becoming the Jaguars' first-ever trade, for third- and fifth-round picks.

Who beat the Jaguars 20–6 in the AFC Championship Game after the 1996 season?

The New England Patriots won 20–6 at Foxboro in January 1997, a week after Jacksonville had stunned Denver 30–27; the Jaguars had won five straight just to make the playoffs at 9–7.

The Jaguars' 62–7 divisional-round win in January 2000 was the last game of which quarterback's career?

Dan Marino completed just 11 of 25 passes with two interceptions and lost a fumble that was run in for a touchdown, as Jacksonville went 38–0 up inside 18 minutes.

Which running back became the first Jaguar to rush for 1,000 yards, in 1998, and holds the franchise record?

Fred Taylor ran for more than 11,000 yards as a Jaguar yet made just one Pro Bowl, in his tenth season, and only as an injury replacement.

Which Jaguars 1,000-yard receiver of 1996-97 had begun his career winning two Super Bowls with Dallas?

Jimmy Smith nearly died of an infection after having his appendix out in 1993, was cut by two teams, and reached Jacksonville only as a street free agent after a tryout.

The Jaguars moved from the AFC Central to which division in the 2002 realignment?

The AFC South, created in the 2002 realignment, grouped Jacksonville with Indianapolis, the expansion Houston Texans and the former Houston Oilers, ending the twice-a-year Steelers rivalry.

Which quarterback did the Jaguars take seventh overall in 2003, to eventually replace Mark Brunell?

Byron Leftwich fell to Jacksonville when Minnesota, busy working on a trade, let its 15 minutes run out at No. 7 and the Jaguars rushed their card in.

Which running back led the NFL in rushing for Jacksonville in 2011?

Maurice Jones-Drew chose No. 32 because 32 teams, his own included, passed on him in the first round of the 2006 draft.

Which head coach went 14–48 before the Jaguars fired him in December 2016?

Gus Bradley made his name running Seattle's defence as its Legion of Boom secondary took shape, and Seattle won the Super Bowl the season after he left for Jacksonville.

Which quarterback set Jaguars single-season records with 4,428 passing yards and 35 touchdowns in 2015?

Blake Bortles set both marks in only his second season, yet the Jaguars still finished 5–11.

What nickname did the Jaguars' dominant 2017 defense earn?

Sacksonville, coined for a pass rush that piled up 55 sacks, carried the 2017 team to 10–6, a first division title since 1999 and a 45–42 divisional-round win at Pittsburgh.

Which Jaguar's fumble recovery was controversially blown dead in the 2017 AFC Championship Game?

Myles Jack stripped Dion Lewis and scooped the ball up with open field ahead, but the play was ruled down by contact; the hosts then rallied from 20–10 down in the fourth quarter to win 24–20.

Which 0–13 team's two December 2020 wins handed the 1–15 Jaguars the first overall draft pick?

Jets wins over the Rams and Browns dropped New York to the second pick, so Trevor Lawrence, the prize of the 2021 draft, went to Jacksonville instead.

Trevor Lawrence, the first overall pick in 2021, won a national championship as a freshman at which college?

Lawrence led Clemson to a 44–16 rout of Alabama in the January 2019 national championship game as a true freshman and was the consensus top prospect of the 2021 draft.

In the 2022 wild-card round the Jaguars erased a 27–0 deficit to beat which team 31–30?

Chargers defenders intercepted Trevor Lawrence four times in the first half; he answered with four touchdown passes, and Riley Patterson's field goal won it as time expired.

Doug Pederson arrived in Jacksonville in 2022 having won a championship as head coach of which team?

Philadelphia Eagles won that title with his boldest call, the Philly Special: a fourth-and-goal trick play that ended with the quarterback catching a touchdown pass.

For which team was Liam Coen offensive coordinator in 2024, the season before the Jaguars made him head coach?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished in the NFL's top five for both points and yards in his only season calling their plays, which earned him the Jacksonville job.

Which pass rusher set the Jaguars' single-season sack record with 17.5 in 2023?

Josh Hines-Allen, who played as Josh Allen until adding his mother's surname in 2024, set the club record with 17.5 sacks in 2023 and made the Pro Bowl; the Kentucky product went seventh overall in 2019.

Who bought the Jaguars from Wayne Weaver in 2012?

Shahid Khan arrived alone from Pakistan at 16 to study engineering, then built his fortune on a one-piece truck bumper his start-up made.

Which English football club did the Jaguars' owner buy in 2013?

Fulham had a Michael Jackson statue outside their ground; the new owner removed it within months, and when the club went down that season his predecessor blamed the missing statue.

From 2013 the Jaguars agreed to play one home game a year at which English stadium?

Wembley nearly became the Jaguars owner's own: in 2018 he made an offer to buy the stadium from the Football Association, then withdrew it six months later when English football would not back the sale.

What unusual amenity was added to the north end zone of the Jaguars' stadium in the 2014 renovation?

Swimming pools and their party deck replaced thousands of seats in a stadium too big for its market: since 2005 the club had covered upper sections with tarps to avoid local TV blackouts.

The Jaguars' stadium was built on the site of which famous old venue?

The old Gator Bowl was torn down to its west upper deck and rebuilt in 1994–95 as Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, later carrying the Alltel, EverBank and TIAA Bank names.

What is the name of the Jaguars' mascot, known for bungee jumping off the stadium lights?

Jaxson de Ville's antics led the NFL to write a rule keeping every mascot behind the six-foot border around the field; Colts president Bill Polian still filed a complaint about him in 2007.

What did fans vote to call Jacksonville's ring of honor in 2006?

Pride of the Jaguars is an odd fit for the animal: a pride is a family of lions, while real jaguars live and hunt alone.

Which number is the only one officially retired by the Jaguars?

71 was retired at half-time in October 2022, two months after its wearer became the first Jaguar in the Hall of Fame; 8, 28 and 82 belonged to fellow club greats but were never formally retired.

Which cornerback did the Jaguars trade to Los Angeles for two first-round picks in 2019?

Jalen Ramsey asked for a trade soon after a sideline shouting match with his head coach in Week 2, played once more, then sat out with a back complaint until the deal was done.

Which Super Bowl MVP quarterback did the Jaguars sign in 2019, then lose to a broken collarbone in Week 1?

Nick Foles lasted less than a quarter of his Jaguars debut: he threw one touchdown pass, left injured, and a rookie replaced him.

Which linebacker did the Jaguars take second overall in the 1996 draft?

Kevin Hardy went one pick ahead of his own Illinois team-mate Simeon Rice, who piled up 122 career sacks.

Which Jaguars head coach was fired after a single 2–14 season in 2012?

Mike Mularkey was sacked by a general manager who had been in the job for just 48 hours and wanted what he called an immediate and clean restart.

Which sixth-round rookie quarterback started most of the Jaguars' 2019 season?

Gardner Minshew's moustache, headband and cut-off jean shorts helped start 'Minshew Mania' and drew comparisons with Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite.

Which team handed the 14–2 Jaguars all three of their defeats in the 1999 season, including the AFC Championship Game?

Tennessee Titans trailed 14–10 at half-time of the title game, then a safety and Derrick Mason's 80-yard return of the free kick that followed turned it into a rout.

The Jaguars' two-tone helmet, scrapped in the 2018 redesign, faded from black at the front to which colour?

Gold faded into matte black at the front; the 2018 redesign dropped the gold and the matte finish and went back to the glossy all-black helmet the club started out with.

In which city did the Jaguars stage a comeback win over the Dolphins in Week 6 of 2021?

The game was at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, where Matthew Wright's 53-yard field goal as time expired beat Miami 23–20 and ended a 20-game losing streak.

Which player did the Jaguars trade up to draft second overall in 2025?

Travis Hunter cost Jacksonville dearly: to jump from fifth to second it gave Cleveland a second-round pick, a fourth-rounder and its 2026 first-round pick as well.

The Jay Fund Foundation, set up by the Jaguars' first head coach in 1996, helps families facing what?

The Jay Fund helps families facing childhood cancer; it is named for Jay McGillis, a Boston College player of the coach's who died of leukaemia in 1992, and later expanded to the New York area.