John Bighead (April 23, 1930 – April 28, 1993) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. A

Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...

Indian, he starred in football at L.A. Poly High in the 1940s and played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was a 1948 graduate of

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

after earning Little All-American honors in football and track. After serving in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Navy, he played two years in the NFL. He was drafted in the 15th round of the

1952 NFL draft The 1952 National Football League Draft was held on January 17, 1952, at Hotel Statler in New York. Selections made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans. This was the sixth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick de ...

by the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs * Dallas Texans (arena), 1990–1993 Arena Football League team ...

in 1952. Jack Bighead then played professionally for the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

in 1954 and the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

in 1955. He was the starter for the Rams before a career-ending leg injury. He played one season in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1956 too. He joined the teaching staff of the Anaheim Union High School District in 1957, teaching and coaching at Western and Magnolia where he was also known to always be carrying a clipboard as his character "Little Boy" did in the 1951 movie ''

Jim Thorpe – All-American ''Jim Thorpe – All-American'' (UK title: ''Man of Bronze'') is a 1951 American biographical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Burt Lancaster as Jim Thorpe, the great Native American athlete who won medals at the 1912 Olympics and d ...

''. He joined the Katella faculty when it opened in 1966 and coached track and taught health before retiring in 1987. After retiring from teaching at Katella high School, the school name an annual track and field event in his honor. He was married to Joan Bighead, and they had two kids (Jacqueline, and Diane), three grandchildren (Casey, Jackson, and Tanner), and three great-grandchildren (Rory, Vanessa, and Kota).

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bighead, John Jack 1930 births 1993 deaths American football ends Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Baltimore Colts players Los Angeles Rams players Pepperdine Waves football players Pepperdine Waves men's track and field athletes Players of American football from Los Angeles People from Sapulpa, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Native American players of American football