James Whittington Elrod (born May 25, 1954 in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

) is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

 who was an All-American at the University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma

The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

 and played professionally for the Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

 and the Houston Oilers

History of the Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are the professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the then-Houston, Texas, team began play in 1960 as a...

 of the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

.

Elrod graduated from East Central High School

East Central High School (Oklahoma)

East Central High School is one of nine high schools in Tulsa Public Schools in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The school is home to 1,177 students from East Tulsa. The majority of students transition into East Central from: Stephen Foster Middle School and Lewis & Clark Middle School.- History :East Central...

 in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

, in 1972 and was a member of the National Championship

NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship

A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...

 football teams of 1974

1974 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1974 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 1974-1975. This was the first of three national championship squads for head coach Barry Switzer. Only one opponent played the Sooners within 14 points and four failed to score a...

 and 1975

1975 Oklahoma Sooners football team

The 1975 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 1975-1976. The team was helmed by Barry Switzer in his third season as head coach. After sailing through their first eight games, Oklahoma suffered a surprising home loss to Kansas,...

.
Elrod earned consensus All-America

1975 College Football All-America Team

The 1975 College Football All-America team is composed of various organizations that choose College All-America teams that season. The organizations that chose the teams were Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Football Writers Association of America,...

 honors in 1975 when he had 20 tackles

Tackle (football move)

Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....

 for loss. His 44 tackles for loss led the career list at the University of Oklahoma until 2001 (it now stands as sixth-best all-time).

Elrod starred in the 1976 Orange Bowl

1976 Orange Bowl

The 1976 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1976. The Oklahoma Sooners, champions of the Big Eight Conference, defeated the Michigan Wolverines, second-place finishers in the Big Ten Conference, 14–6....

 a 14-6 victory over the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 that secured the Sooners a fifth national championship. The Oklahoma defense allowed only 202 total yards in the game. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 5th round (144th overall) of the 1976 NFL Draft

1976 NFL Draft

The 1976 National Football League Draft was an annual player selection meeting held on April 8–April 9, 1976. It lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks making the first two selections. The expansion teams were also given a pair of extra picks at the end of...

 where he played three seasons and in 1979 he played one season with the Oilers.

He earned a dual-scholarship to the University of Oklahoma where he was a member of the 1974 National Championship Wrestling team. Elrod earned a degree in Public Relations and Business Administration and after his NFL career he worked in the Personal Health Care Business and well as radio hosting and analysis.

Currently, Elrod is a radio talk show host at KOKC (AM)

KOKC (AM)

KOKC is a talk radio station located in Oklahoma City among a cluster of stations in the market owned by Pennsylvania-based Renda Broadcasting. KOKC is an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network.-The early years:...

1520, the flagship station for the University of Oklahoma and is located in Oklahoma City.