John Roach (American football)

American football player (1933–2021)

American football player

John RoachNo. 12, 33, 10

Position:| Quarterback, Defensive back
Personal information
Born:| (1933-03-26)March 26, 1933
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Died:| February 18, 2021(2021-02-18) (aged 87)
Height:| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:| 197 lb (89 kg)
Career information
High school:| Dallas (TX) Highland Park
College:| Southern Methodist
NFL draft:| 1956 / round: 3 / pick: 31
Career history

* Chicago / St. Louis Cardinals (1956, 1959–1960)
* Cleveland Browns (1961)*
* Green Bay Packers (1961–1963)
* Dallas Cowboys (1964)

* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards

* Second-team All-SWC (1955)
* 2× NFL champion (1961, 1962)

Career NFL statistics
| Games played:| 64

|

Passing yards:| 2,765
Pass attempts:| 413
Pass completions:| 182
TD–INT:| 24–37
Rushing yards:| 99
Player stats at PFR

John Gipson Roach (March 26, 1933 – February 18, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback and defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs.[1]

## Early life

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Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Roach graduated from Highland Park High School in University Park, which had earlier produced hall of famers Bobby Layne and Doak Walker.

Roach accepted a football scholarship from Southern Methodist University. He played as a quarterback, defensive back and punter for the Mustangs, becoming a starter at quarterback as a senior.

## Professional career

[edit]

### Chicago / St. Louis Cardinals

[edit]

Roach was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the third round (31st overall) in the 1956 NFL draft. As a rookie, he was used at punter. After the season, he spent two years in the U.S. Air Force.

In 1959, he returned to the team and played as a defensive back, before being named the starting quarterback late in the year.[2]

In 1960, he became the starting quarterback, after the team lost to injury two quarterbacks during their first season in St. Louis. On July 5, 1961, in a surprising move, he was sent to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Halfback Prentice Gautt and rookie End Taz Anderson.

### Cleveland Browns

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On August 8, 1961, he was traded to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a third round draft choice (#42-John Furman).[3]

### Green Bay Packers

[edit]

Roach was the backup quarterback on the Packers' 1961 and 1962 NFL championship teams, backing up Bart Starr under head coach Vince Lombardi. In 1963, when Starr injured his passing hand in the sixth game against the St. Louis Cardinals, he was held out for 4+1⁄2 games and Roach was named the starter during those contests.[2][4][5] The team was 4–1 with Starr sidelined and finished 11–2–1, but the 26–7 loss to the Chicago Bears in mid-November was critical;[6][7][8] keeping them a half game back in the Western Conference final standings and denied the Packers a chance to win an unprecedented third consecutive NFL championship game.

He announced his retirement on May 20, 1964. On August 31, he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a third draft choice (#33-Bob Timberlake).

### Dallas Cowboys

[edit]

In 1964, Roach retired to work for an investment firm in Dallas, until the Dallas Cowboys convinced him to play in his home state. He was acquired after starting quarterback Don Meredith went down with a knee injury in the preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.[9][10] He started in 4 games, passing for 349 yards, one touchdown and 6 interceptions.[11]

## Death

[edit]

John Roach died on February 18, 2021.[1] At the time of his death, he was the only person to have played football for the Highland Park Scots, SMU Mustangs, and Dallas Cowboys.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "John Roach Obituary - (1933 - 2021) - Dallas, TX - Dallas Morning News". obits.dallasnews.com. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
2. ^ a b "Roach waiting, ready". Milwaukee Journal. October 22, 1963. p. 15, part 2.
3. ^ Johnson, Chuck (August 8, 1961). "John Roach is obtained". Milwaukee Journal. p. 10, part 2.
4. ^ "John Roach promoted by Packers". Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. October 22, 1963. p. 18.
5. ^ Hand, Jack (October 22, 1963). "Roach only sub for Starr". Ocala Star=Banner. Florida. Associated Press. p. 9.
6. ^ Strickler, George (November 18, 1963). "Showdown battle is all Bears, 26-7". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 3.
7. ^ Lea, Bud (November 18, 1963). "Spirited Bears maul Packers, take lead". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.
8. ^ Johnson, Chuck (November 18, 1963). "Bears rip Packers in showdown, 26-7". Milwaukee Journal. p. 9, part 2.
9. ^ "John Roach joins Cowboys". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. September 1, 1964. p. 25.
10. ^ "Cowboys' hopes rest on Roach". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. October 1, 1964. p. 12, part 2.
11. ^ "Roach". Milwaukee Journal. UPI. November 28, 1964. p. 2, final.

## External links

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*   * Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference ·

* v
* t
* e

SMU Mustangs starting quarterbacks

* Gerald Mann (1926–27)
* John Sprague (1935)
* Doak Walker (1945)
* Frank Payne (1946)
* Gil Johnson (1947–1948)
* Fred Benners (1949–1951)
* Jerry Norton (1952)
* Duane Nutt (1953–1954)
* John Roach (1955)
* Charlie Arnold (1956)
* Don Meredith (1957–1959)
* Frank Jackson (1960)
* Jerry Rhome (1961)
* Don Campbell (1962)
* Danny Thomas (1963–1964)
* Mac White (1965)
* Mike Livingston (1966–1967)
* Chuck Hixson (1968–70)
* Gary Hammond (1971)
* Keith Bobo (1972–1973)
* Ricky Wesson (1974–1976)
* Mike Ford (1977–1980)
* Jim Bob Taylor (1979)
* Lance McIlhenny (1980–83)
* Don King (1984–85)
* Bobby Watters (1986)
* Mike Romo (1989–91)
* Dan Freiburger (1990–92)
* Todd Ritz (1991)
* Ramon Flanigan (1993–94, 1996–97)
* Mark Eldred (1993)
* Derek Canine (1995)
* Chris James (1994–95)
* Mark Humble (1995–96)
* Chris Sanders (1997–98)
* Josh McCown (1998–2000)
* David Page (2000–01)
* Kelan Luker (2001)
* Tate Wallis (2002)
* Richard Bartel (2002–03)
* Tony Eckert (2004)
* Jared Romo (2004–05)
* Justin Willis (2006–08)
* Bo Levi Mitchell (2008–09)
* Kyle Padron (2009–11)
* J. J. McDermott (2011)
* Garrett Gilbert (2012–13)
* Neal Burcham (2013–14)
* Kolney Cassel (2014)
* Garrett Krstich (2014–2015)
* Matt Davis (2014–2016)
* Ben Hicks (2016–2018)
* William Brown (2018)
* Shane Buechele (2019–2020)
* Tanner Mordecai (2021–2022)
* Preston Stone (2022–2024)
* Kevin Jennings (2023–present)

* v
* t
* e

Chicago Cardinals 1956 NFL draft selections

* Joe Childress
* Norm Masters
* Joe Roach
* Sam Salerno
* Charlie Dupre
* John Dittrich
* Bob Konovsky
* Dave Lunceford
* Bob Lovely
* Willis Towne
* Fob James
* Jerry Walker
* Bo Bolinger
* Carnall Neuman
* Charlie Anderson
* Tom Spiers
* George Welsh
* Ron Beagle
* Jim Brown
* Ray Zacker
* Dickie Mattison
* Ronnie Heer
* Jim Murphy
* Tony Branoff
* Orville Trask
* Chuck Zickefoose
* Jack Hutchinson
* Jim Miller
* Jim Troglio
* Bill Kucera

* v
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* e

Arizona Cardinals starting quarterbacks

Formerly the Chicago Cardinals (1920–1959), St. Louis Cardinals (1960–1987), and Phoenix Cardinals (1988–1993)

* Paddy Driscoll (1920–1925)
* Arnold Horween (1922–1924)
* Hal Erickson (1926–1928)
* Roddy Lamb (1927)
* Don Hill (1929)
* Bunny Belden (1930)
* Walt Holmer (1931–1932)
* Joe Lillard (1933)
* Phil Sarboe (1934–1935)
* Pug Vaughan (1936)
* Pat Coffee (1937)
* Jack Robbins (1938–1939)
* Hugh McCullough (1940)
* Ray Mallouf (1941)
* Bud Schwenk (1942)
* Ronnie Cahill (1943)
* John Grigas (1944)
* Vince Oliver (1945)
* Paul Collins (1945)
* Paul Christman (1945–1949)
* Ray Mallouf (1948)
* Virgil Eikenberg (1948)
* Jim Hardy (1949–1951)
* Frank Tripucka (1950–1952)
* Charley Trippi (1951–1952)
* Don Panciera (1952)
* Jim Root (1953, 1956)
* Steve Romanik (1953–1954)
* Ray Nagel (1953)
* Lamar McHan (1954–1958)
* Ogden Compton (1955)
* M. C. Reynolds (1958)
* King Hill (1959–1960)
* John Roach (1959–1960)
* George Izo (1960)
* Sam Etcheverry (1961–1962)
* Ralph Guglielmi (1961)
* Charley Johnson (1962–1966, 1968–1969)
* Buddy Humphrey (1965)
* Terry Nofsinger (1966)
* Jim Hart (1967–1981, 1983)
* Pete Beathard (1971)
* Tim Van Galder (1972)
* Gary Cuozzo (1972)
* Gary Keithley (1973)
* Steve Pisarkiewicz (1978–1979)
* Mike Loyd (1980)
* Neil Lomax (1981–1988)
* Cliff Stoudt (1986, 1988)
* Shawn Halloran (1987)
* Sammy Garza (1987)
* Gary Hogeboom (1989)
* Tom Tupa (1989, 1991)
* Timm Rosenbach (1989–1990, 1992)
* Stan Gelbaugh (1991)
* Chris Chandler (1991–1993)
* Steve Beuerlein (1993–1994)
* Jay Schroeder (1994)
* Jim McMahon (1994)
* Dave Krieg (1995)
* Boomer Esiason (1996)
* Kent Graham (1996–1997)
* Jake Plummer (1997–2002)
* Stoney Case (1997)
* Dave Brown (1999–2000)
* Jeff Blake (2003)
* Josh McCown (2003–2005)
* Shaun King (2004)
* John Navarre (2004)
* Kurt Warner (2005–2009)
* Matt Leinart (2006–2007, 2009)
* Derek Anderson (2010)
* John Skelton (2010–2012)
* Max Hall (2010)
* Kevin Kolb (2011–2012)
* Ryan Lindley (2012, 2014)
* Brian Hoyer (2012)
* Carson Palmer (2013–2017)
* Drew Stanton (2014, 2016–2017)
* Blaine Gabbert (2017)
* Sam Bradford (2018)
* Josh Rosen (2018)
* Kyler Murray (2019–present)
* Colt McCoy (2021–2022)
* Trace McSorley (2022)
* David Blough (2022)
* Joshua Dobbs (2023)
* Clayton Tune (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Green Bay Packers starting quarterbacks

* Adolph Kliebhan (1921)
* Norman Barry (1921)
* Charlie Mathys (1922–1926)
* Curly Lambeau (1925)
* Pid Purdy (1926)
* Red Dunn (1927–1931)
* Bullet Baker (1928–1929)
* Jack Evans (1929)
* Arnie Herber (1930–1940)
* Paul Fitzgibbon (1931)
* Roger Grove (1931)
* Cecil Isbell (1938–1942)
* Hal Van Every (1940)
* Tony Canadeo (1942–1943)
* Irv Comp (1943–1948)
* Roy McKay (1945)
* Cliff Aberson (1946)
* Jack Jacobs (1947–1949)
* Perry Moss (1948)
* Earl Girard (1949)
* Stan Heath (1949)
* Tobin Rote (1950–1956)
* Bobby Thomason (1951)
* Babe Parilli (1952–1953, 1957–1958)
* Bart Starr (1956–1971)
* Joe Francis (1958)
* Lamar McHan (1959–1960)
* John Roach (1963)
* Zeke Bratkowski (1966–1968, 1971)
* Don Horn (1969–1970)
* Scott Hunter (1971–1973)
* Jerry Tagge (1973–1974)
* Jim Del Gaizo (1973)
* John Hadl (1974–1975)
* Jack Concannon (1974)
* Don Milan (1975)
* Lynn Dickey (1976–1977, 1979–1985)
* Carlos Brown (1976)
* Randy Johnson (1976)
* David Whitehurst (1977–1979, 1981)
* Randy Wright (1984–1988)
* Jim Zorn (1985)
* Don Majkowski (1987–1992)
* Alan Risher (1987)
* Anthony Dilweg (1990)
* Blair Kiel (1990–1991)
* Mike Tomczak (1991)
* Brett Favre (1992–2007)
* Aaron Rodgers (2008–2022)
* Matt Flynn (2010–2011, 2013)
* Seneca Wallace (2013)
* Scott Tolzien (2013)
* Brett Hundley (2017)
* Jordan Love (2021, 2023–present)
* Malik Willis (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Dallas Cowboys starting quarterbacks

* Eddie LeBaron (1960–1963)
* Don Meredith (1960–1968)
* Don Heinrich (1960)
* John Roach (1964)
* Jerry Rhome (1965–1966)
* Craig Morton (1965, 1967–1972)
* Roger Staubach (1969–1971, 1973–1979)
* Clint Longley (1975)
* Danny White (1978, 1980–1987)
* Glenn Carano (1981)
* Gary Hogeboom (1984–1985)
* Steve Pelluer (1986–1988)
* Reggie Collier (1986)
* Kevin Sweeney (1987–1988)
* Troy Aikman (1989–2000)
* Steve Walsh (1989)
* Babe Laufenberg (1990)
* Steve Beuerlein (1991)
* Bernie Kosar (1993)
* Jason Garrett (1993–1994, 1998–1999)
* Rodney Peete (1994)
* Wade Wilson (1996)
* Randall Cunningham (2000)
* Anthony Wright (2000–2001)
* Quincy Carter (2001–2003)
* Ryan Leaf (2001)
* Clint Stoerner (2001)
* Chad Hutchinson (2002)
* Vinny Testaverde (2004)
* Drew Henson (2004)
* Drew Bledsoe (2005–2006)
* Tony Romo (2006–2015)
* Brad Johnson (2008)
* Jon Kitna (2010)
* Stephen McGee (2010)
* Kyle Orton (2013)
* Brandon Weeden (2014–2015)
* Matt Cassel (2015)
* Kellen Moore (2015)
* Dak Prescott (2016–present)
* Andy Dalton (2020)
* Ben DiNucci (2020)
* Garrett Gilbert (2020)
* Cooper Rush (2021–2022)

* v
* t
* e

Green Bay Packers 1961 NFL champions

* 3 Ben Agajanian
* 5 Paul Hornung
* 10 John Roach
* 15 Bart Starr
* 22 Elijah Pitts
* 24 Willie Wood
* 25 Tom Moore
* 26 Herb Adderley
* 27 Johnny Symank
* 31 Jim Taylor
* 33 Lew Carpenter
* 40 Dale Hackbart
* 45 Emlen Tunnell
* 46 Hank Gremminger
* 47 Jesse Whittenton
* 51 Jim Ringo
* 53 Ken Iman
* 58 Dan Currie
* 61 Nelson Toburen
* 63 Fuzzy Thurston
* 64 Jerry Kramer
* 65 Tom Bettis
* 66 Ray Nitschke
* 71 Bill Forester
* 72 Ben Davidson
* 75 Forrest Gregg
* 74 Henry Jordan
* 76 Bob Skoronski
* 77 Ron Kostelnik
* 78 Norm Masters
* 79 Dave Hanner
* 81 Lee Folkins
* 83 Bill Quinlan
* 84 Gary Knafelc
* 85 Max McGee
* 86 Boyd Dowler
* 87 Willie Davis
* 88 Ron Kramer

Head coach: Vince Lombardi

Assistant coaches: Bill Austin
* Phil Bengtson
* Red Cochran
* Norb Hecker
* Dick Voris

* v
* t
* e

Green Bay Packers 1962 NFL champions

* 5 Paul Hornung
* 10 John Roach
* 15 Bart Starr
* 22 Elijah Pitts
* 24 Willie Wood
* 25 Tom Moore
* 26 Herb Adderley
* 27 Johnny Symank
* 29 Howie Williams
* 31 Jim Taylor
* 33 Lew Carpenter
* 40 Earl Gros
* 46 Hank Gremminger
* 47 Jesse Whittenton
* 51 Jim Ringo
* 53 Ken Iman
* 58 Dan Currie
* 60 Ed Blaine
* 61 Nelson Toburen
* 63 Fuzzy Thurston
* 64 Jerry Kramer
* 66 Ray Nitschke
* 71 Bill Forester
* 73 Ron Gassert
* 74 Henry Jordan
* 75 Forrest Gregg
* 76 Bob Skoronski
* 77 Ron Kostelnik
* 78 Norm Masters
* 79 Dave Hanner
* 80 Gary Barnes
* 83 Bill Quinlan
* 84 Gary Knafelc
* 85 Max McGee
* 86 Boyd Dowler
* 87 Willie Davis
* 88 Ron Kramer

Head coach: Vince Lombardi

Assistant coaches: Bill Austin
* Phil Bengtson
* Red Cochran
* Tom Fears
* Norb Hecker
* Dick Voris

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