John Fitzgerald (American football player)

John Fitzgerald
Position (s): Center	Jersey number (s): 62
born April 16, 1948 in Southbridge , Massachusetts
Career information
Active : 1970 - 1981
NFL Draft : 1970 / Round: 4 / Pick: 101
College : Boston College
Teams
Dallas Cowboys (1970-1981)
Career statistics
Games	137
as a starter	108
Fumble secured	6th
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
2 × Super Bowl winners ( VI , XII ) 5 × NFC champions (1970, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1978) Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame (1982)

John Robert Fitzgerald (* 16th April 1948 in Southbridge , Massachusetts , USA ) is a former American American Football- players. He played as a center in the National Football League (NFL) with the Dallas Cowboys .

Player career

John Fitzgerald attended high school in his hometown and after graduating from Boston, joined Boston College . There he played for the Boston College Eagles 1967-1969 Football . He was used by his team in both the offensive line and the defensive line . In 1970, Fitzgerald was drafted 101st in the fourth round by the Dallas Cowboys . The trainer of the Cowboys, Tom Landry , initially used him mainly in the special teams as a long snapper . His job was to enable his own kicker, Toni Fritsch, to execute a field goal . In his rookie year , he won the NFC Championship Game with his team . His team failed but with 16:13 in Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts , which were looked after by Don McCafferty .

In 1971 John Fitzgerald won eleven of 14 games with the Cowboys in the regular season and thus moved into the play-offs . After a 14: 3 win over the San Francisco 49ers , his team managed a 24: 3 victory in Super Bowl VI against the Miami Dolphins, trained by Don Shula .

In 1973 Fitzgerald was able to assert himself with the Cowboys on the position of a center. The offensive line around Fitzgerald, guard John Niland and offensive tackle Rayfield Wright and Ralph Neely should develop into a guarantee of success for the team from Dallas . Under the leadership of quarterback Roger Staubach , Fitzgerald won the NFC championship in 1975. 37: 7 victory over the Los Angeles Rams , however, in the NFC Championship Game was followed by a 21:17 defeat by Chuck Noll supervised Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl X .

After the 1977 season, Fitzgerald was able to celebrate winning his second Super Bowl . After winning the NFC Championship with a 23: 6 win over the Minnesota Vikings , a 37: 7 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII followed .

In the following season, John Fitzgerald failed after winning the NFC title again in Super Bowl XIII with 35:31 at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

John Fitzgerald was seriously injured before the 1981 season and was not used in this game round. He was replaced by Tom Rafferty and ended his career after the game year.

After the career

John Fitzgerald became a businessman after his career and is a co-owner of an insurance agency in Dallas.

Web links

• John Fitzgerald in his college hall of fame
• Short biography ( memento from February 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
• Photographs by John Fitzgerald

source

• Jens Plassmann: NFL - American Football. The game, the stars, the stories (= Rororo 9445 rororo Sport ). Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-499-19445-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Annual statistics of the Dallas Cowboys 1970
2. ↑ Statistics NFC final 1970
3. ↑ Statistics Super Bowl V
4. ↑ Annual statistics of the cowboys 1971
5. ↑ Statistics NFC final 1971
6. ↑ Statistics Super Bowl VI
7. ↑ Annual statistics of the Dallas Cowboys 1975
8. ↑ Statistics NFC Championship Game 1975
9. ↑ Statistics Super Bowl X
10. ↑ Annual statistics of the Dallas Cowboys 1977
11. ↑ Statistics NFC Championship Game 1977
12. ↑ Statistics Super Bowl XII
13. ↑ Annual statistics of the Dallas Cowboys 1977
14. ↑ Statistics NFC Championship Game 1977
15. ↑ Statistics Super Bowl XIII
16. ↑ John Fitzgerald's career choice
17. ↑ John Fitzgerald's Insurance Agency