[citation needed] Jim caught a team record 3 TD passes for the Boston Patriots in their 41–10 rout of the Miami Dolphins at BC on October 15, 1967.
[5][6][7][8] (Whalen's father was one of the preeminent multi-sport collegiate stars of his era, captaining the Manhattan College baseball and football teams in its sports heyday at the national level.
[9]) The younger Whalen was a three-sport star at Cambridge High and Latin, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a school that also produced a number of other top athletes including MLB Hall-of-Fame pitcher and 342 game winner Tim Keefe, MLB player Eddie Waitkus on whom the movie The Natural was loosely based and Olympic high jumper John Thomas.
Whalen, who starred in football, baseball and ice hockey, was subsequently inducted into the Cambridge Rindge and Latin Athletic Hall of Fame.
[13] Joining Whalen at the offensive skill positions were Roger Staubach/Navy at QB, Milt Moran/UMass at end, and Jim Nance and Floyd Little, each of Syracuse, as backs.
[18][full citation needed] After the conclusion of the 1964 season, Whalen was selected as a starter in both the East – West Shrine Game (held in San Francisco), as well as the Senior Bowl (Mobile, Alabama).
[15] Against Air Force, Whalen's 4th down 30 yard touchdown reception on an Ed Foley pass snapped a 7–7 tie leading to a 13–7 win.
[19][full citation needed] Later that season, Whalen's 15 yard catch in the closing moments resulted in a 10–8 victory in Holy Cross coach Eddie Anderson's final game.
[4] His four receiving touchdowns ranked first among AFL tight ends and fourth overall trailing only John Mackey, Jerry Smith and Pete Retzlaff.
[4] On November 13, 1966, Whalen scored his first professional touchdown on a 42-yard pass reception from Babe Parilli in a 27–21 win over the Houston Oilers.
[4] The First-team All-Pro tight ends in 1966 were Fred Arbanas (22 catches, 305 yards and 4 touchdowns) and John Mackey (50, 829 and 9).
[4] The three receiving touchdowns while subsequently surpassed by WR Randy Moss on November 18, 2007, against Buffalo, is through the 2012 season still a Patriots record for tight ends.
[4] On September 22, 1968, the Boston Patriots and New York Jets played the first professional football ever held in the state of Alabama.
In a season during which he was battling influenza, Whalen recorded 16 receptions for 235 yards and a touchdown in a year in which no Patriot (running backs included) caught more than 29 balls.
[4] After the season, Whalen was traded to the Denver Broncos for another tight end, Tom Beer, who would subsequently write a book entitled Sunday's Fools about his days in football.
In his first season as a Denver Bronco, Whalen records 36 receptions for 503 yards and three touchdowns ranking in the top ten in each category across all NFL tight ends.
[4] In a 24–10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on October 18, 1970, Whalen scores his first touchdown as a Denver Bronco on an 8-yard pass from QB Pete Liske.
[4] However, during that game against the Chiefs, Whalen missed a block that resulted in the game-winning touchdown, and was abruptly released by the Broncos two days later.
Despite playing his entire career during the shorter 14-game season and largely for teams that ranked at or near the bottom in passing,[4] Whalen's accomplishments still compare favorably in today's offense-oriented game.
[4] His career average of 16.0 per catch (inclusive of his time with the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles) as a tight end is outstanding and ranks in the top ten in the history of professional football (minimum of 150 receptions).
[4] During his career, Whalen caught touchdown passes from Babe Parilli, Don Trull, Mike Taliferro, Tom Sherman and Pete Liske.