Born into a working-class Catholic family in Youngstown, Ohio, Traficant was the son of Agnes ("née" Farkas) and James Anthony Traficant Sr. He was of mostly Italian and Hungarian ancestry. Traficant graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1959 and the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 obtaining a B.S. in education. He played quarterback for Pitt's football team, and his teammates included Mike Ditka. Traficant was drafted in the NFL's twentieth round (276th overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1963, and tried out for the Steelers and the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League, but did not play professionally. He later obtained a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh (1973) in Administration and another from Youngstown State University (1976) in counseling.