Joe Dan Washington Jr (born September 24, 1953) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Colts, Washington Redskins, and Atlanta Falcons.
Washington graduated from Lincoln High School in Port Arthur, Texas, where his father coached football.
Washington had a stellar college football career at the University of Oklahoma, where he was a two-time First-team All-American and finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1974 and fifth in 1975.
He was traded along with a 1979 fifth-round selection (131st overall–traded to Detroit Lions for Greg Landry) from the Chargers to the Colts for Lydell Mitchell on August 23, 1978.
The transaction was the result of Mitchell's acrimonious contract dispute with Colts management in which he accused team owner Robert Irsay of bad faith bargaining and racial discrimination.
His most memorable performance was on September 18, 1978, in Baltimore's 34–27 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football, when he had a hand in three of the four touchdowns scored by the Colts in a fourth quarter in which both teams combined for 41 points.