Arkansas football legend Jim Lindsey dies
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Arkansas running back Jim Lindsey (No. 21) gallops for eight yards before Texas' Barney Giles (No. 68) dives to trip him up. Photo: Getty Images
Jim Lindsey, a leader on the Arkansas Razorbacks' 1964 national championship team, former chairman of the university's Board of Trustees, and NWA real estate magnate, died Sunday. He was 81.
Flashback: Lindsey starred on the Forrest City High School football team before signing with Frank Broyles at the University of Arkansas in 1962. He then became a captain and team leader during one of the program's peak eras.
- After graduating with a degree in math, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings and spent his signing bonus to purchase 137 acres in Fayetteville, where the Northwest Arkansas Mall now sits.
- After seven seasons with the Vikings, Lindsey returned to Arkansas and began selling and developing real estate.
"When we bought this land where the mall is, the lady that sold it to me had said that several people had told her she should take the offer because I was the biggest Santa Claus they'd seen in 30 years of the real estate business," Lindsey told the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal in 2005.
- "When I sold the land for maybe four times what I paid for it, everyone thought I was a child prodigy. And then when somebody else sold two tracts for more than I got for the whole thing, I went back to being an idiot."
Zoom in: After he began building apartment properties, he realized there was a niche attraction for working professionals by developing the complexes around nine-hole and 18-hole golf courses.
- Lindsey Management also owns and operates apartment complexes in Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Oklahoma.
By the numbers: The real estate arm of his holdings was the fourth-largest real estate firm in NWA last year, with $550 million in 2025 sales volume and 225 agents, per the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.
What he said: "Well, what I learned in football that helped me in my later life: If somebody hits you right between the eyes, you better get up quick," he said during his induction to the 2010 Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
- "If things go against you in a hurry, don't panic; there's always more time to go. If you make a mistake, don't lay on the field crying; get up and go change it. Do something different. Make it happen."
What's next: Lindsey's family has not yet announced a memorial service.