Before he led the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears in interceptions, before he was part of the Shufflin’ Crew performing “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” and before he embarked on a long coaching career with eight different NFL teams, Leslie Frazier was just a kid playing every sport he could in Columbus.
Frazier played football, basketball and baseball at Stephen D. Lee High School, then starred as a cornerback at Alcorn State. Despite being passed over in the 1981 NFL Draft, Frazier played five seasons with the Bears, capping his playing career with a victory in Super Bowl XX.
A knee injury in that game would end his time in the NFL as a player, but Frazier is still enjoying a lengthy second career as a coach, which included three years and change as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach. He is currently the assistant head coach with the Seattle Seahawks, and on Friday, he will officially become part of the inaugural class of the Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame.
“It’s extremely humbling,” Frazier told The Dispatch. “When I think about my grandmother raising myself and my two younger brothers, and how challenging it was some days, to now be honored in my hometown, it’s very special to be a part of the inaugural class. Just very grateful, very thankful, and I’m always thinking about my hometown wherever I go. I want to represent Columbus in the right way.”
Frazier credits Charles Brown, a friend’s father and an assistant principal in Columbus during his youth, for introducing him to sports. He played baseball at Sim Scott Park northeast of downtown, played basketball at the local YMCA and football out in the streets with his friends. He excelled in all three, but by the time he was in high school, it was clear that football would be his ticket out of town.
Mississippi State did not recruit Frazier, but his high school coach, Dennis Coleman, had played at Ole Miss and took him to Oxford for a visit. Frazier was never sold on playing for the Rebels, though, and an assistant coach, Robert Smith, took him to a game between Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State. Alcorn State had sent Frazier recruiting letters and ultimately offered him a scholarship, which he accepted.
“I just didn’t feel like I was their guy (at Ole Miss). This is in the late ‘70s, so things weren’t quite what they are today when it comes to recruiting kids of color,” Frazier said. “When I was at (the Alcorn State game), I was like, ‘Man, this is pretty good, and this is the school that’s showing strong interest in me.’ I wouldn’t have gone to college if my family had to pay for it. It had to be a scholarship.”
Frazier immediately proved himself at Alcorn State, with six interceptions and 62 tackles as a freshman. He had nine interceptions and broke up 26 passes as a sophomore, then intercepted five passes in an injury-shortened junior season. Six days after every team passed on him in the NFL Draft, Frazier signed with the Bears, where he played mostly on special teams as a rookie before cracking the starting lineup in 1982.
The music video for “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was recorded at a Chicago night club just after the Bears’ only loss of the 1985 season in Miami. Frazier was reluctant to participate — it was still the regular season, after all — but ultimately consented and was surprised to see the video and song become such a sensation.
“All of us were a little bit reluctant because nobody had really done a video like that, especially during the season,” Frazier said. “It was a fun time. It was a good time. I had no idea it would turn out to be as big as it became. It became a platinum record, very popular. Obviously we had some great players on the team. But that was a special time in Chicago Bears history, for sure.”
Frazier quickly pivoted after his playing career was cut short, becoming the head coach at Trinity International University in the Chicago suburbs in 1988. Following eight years there, he was hired as the defensive backs coach at Illinois, then jumped to the NFL two years later to coach defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles.
After two seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive coordinator, Frazier joined the Indianapolis Colts staff, where he earned his second Super Bowl ring as the Colts defeated the Bears to win Super Bowl XLI in 2007. His only head coaching opportunity came with the Vikings, where he went 21-32-1 but did lead Minnesota to a playoff berth in 2012.
The Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame was formed in the spring of 2024 and began accepting nominations for its inaugural class in June, considering more than 30 names. Frazier and nine other inductees were announced in January.
Although Frazier’s playing and coaching career has taken him to every corner of the United States, he has never forgotten his Mississippi roots.
“It’s such an honor to be recognized by your hometown in this way,” Frazier said. “To know where I came from and what I experienced, to have Lowndes County, my home county, my home state, to want to recognize me and others, I just feel very honored that they would reach out in that way and ask me to participate.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
