James Richard Black^{[citation needed]} (born April 3, 1962) is an American actor and former professional football player.

Black was born in Lima, Ohio. He attended Dover High School in Dover, Ohio, where he was a star athlete. He graduated in 1980.^[1]

Black played college football for Akron. He was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1983 after leading the conference in rushing with 1,568 yards.^[2] In a November 5, 1983, game against Youngstown State, Black set the Akron school record for rushing yards in a game when he rushed 40 times for 246 yards.^[3] In his final college game, on November 19, he set conference and school records for most rushing attempts in a game with 52.^[4] He was named an Associated Press honorable mention Division I-AA All-American after the season,^[5] and finished his college career as Akron's all-time rushing leader with 3,054 yards.^[2]

Black signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 1984,^[6] after also receiving interest from the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and New York Jets.^[7] He was waived before the start of the regular season during final roster cuts on August 20, 1984,^[8] but was re-signed on November 7, 1984.^[2] He played in two games for the Browns in 1984,^[9] becoming the first Akron football player to play in the NFL.^[10] He was waived by the Browns on November 24, 1984.^[11] He re-signed with the Browns after the season, but was waived during training camp on August 5, 1985.^[10]

Black may be best known for his leading role as Agent Michael Hailey on the UPN science fiction drama The Burning Zone.^[1] He has also had roles in numerous other television series and films. His television appearances include V.I.P., Fashion House, Anger Management,^[1] All of Us, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Strong Medicine, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Six Feet Under, Burn Notice and Murder in Mexico: The Bruce Beresford-Redman Story

In motion pictures, he had the leading role of Victor Erickson in the 1998 direct-to-video film Cappuccino, the screenplay of which was based upon a story by author Eric Jerome Dickey. Black has also appeared in The Replacements, Out of Sight, Love and a Bullet, and Universal Soldier: The Return. He portrayed boxer Earnie Shavers in the HBO TV movie Don King: Only in America.