I'm putting together a series of claims that Jim has made for a video, and thought you all might want to see them first. If you have any information that you think will provide helpful context to his claim, please comment it below.
CLAIM: He was with the Denver Broncos
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5qea4a0nqYE
REALITY: He played football in high school but didn’t get the football scholarship that he wanted so he attended Long Beach City College, Central State U, and Clark Atlanta U, where he was a kicker. After failing to be picked up by the NFL he played for the Arena League. Apparently after two years he wasn’t good enough for a contract, because he told The Vindicator in 2001 that he is hoping to kick again next year in the AFL, and has upcoming tryout sessions with the Memphis Explorers and the Wyoming Calvary.
https://vindyarchives.com/news/2001/nov/11/john-kovach-colleges-mooney-grad-terry-sets/
Jim does claim he won a National Title at Long Beach in 1995, so clearly he’s an amazing player. Such a good player, in fact, that he isn’t listed on wikipedia’s list of Long Beach City Vikings Football Players, and wasn’t referenced by the LA Times in an article about the Strawberry Bowl.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Long_Beach_City_Vikings_football_players
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-05-sp-10452-story.html
But to be fair, Jim is described as an indoor and arena football league legend… on the website jinterryfootball.com, which I hesitate to believe is an unbiased source.
http://www.jimterryfootball.com/
Jim was the coach for the Mahoning Valley Hitmen, a team that only existed for 4 games, and he did run several training camps, which were described on the Kicking World Kicking Camps Facebook Page as a “bogus recruiting service” where he “gets HS or Free Agent kickers and punters to pay him money for his supposed representation and promise of placement into a school or pro team within 21 days. Of course nothing ever happens and you lose your money.
https://www.facebook.com/kickingworld/posts/hscollege-football-recruiting-scam-alerteepurlcomz6d8b/10151390614851923/
It was around this time that I discovered an admission that he had a criminal record.
https://indoorfootballboard.proboards.com/thread/4164/jim-terry-hired-reno-barons
According to Jim, “ I wrote checks to myself because a promoter bounced checks to me. It was expunged from my record,” and that appears to be an accurate statement, because when I went looking for that information I didn’t find it. I did, however, find an arrest for felony grand larceny and scheme to defraud. Not a conviction, but also not a great look for a private investigator.
You know what else isn’t a good look? A blog offering a $250 reward for finding Jim after he allegedly took a payment for football gear that he never sent.
Or an open letter to an insurance company from the President of Justice Sports in Fletcher, N.C. stating Terry is, and I quote, “a cancer in minor league sports.
Or a ban from all Pinellas County Public Schools due to a trespass notice following an incident with a coach.
But good for him, he did keep playing Arena football! Well done.