Johanes "Jon" S. Anabo (born August 24, 1939) is a former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who played for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. From 1964 to 1965, he played in 11 regular season games, passing for 803 yards, five

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, and eight interceptions. Prior to playing for the Eskimos, Anabo played for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

and spent time on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

from 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 ...

. While in college, Anabo was one of the top passing quarterbacks among West Coast programs. He played in tandem with fellow quarterback Beau Carter in 1961 and 1962 as he helped lead the Bulldogs to an undefeated season. Anabo was twice named to the All-West Coast team released by

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

. Anabo was selected in the 19th round of the

1962 NFL Draft The 1962 National Football League draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him ...

by the Cleveland Browns and the 23rd round of the

1963 AFL Draft The 1963 American Football League draft was held in Dallas on Saturday, December 1, 1962. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted as the Dallas Texans, as their relocation would take place a few months later. With the first overall selection, they took B ...

by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Early career

Anabo attended

Armijo High School Armijo High School is a public secondary school located in Fairfield, California, Fairfield, California, United States. It is the oldest of the three high schools in the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, the other two being Fairfield High ...

before going on to play

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Vallejo Junior College (later renamed Solano Community College) from 1958 to 1960. While at Vallejo, Anabo also played baseball. In 2004, Anabo was inducted into the Solano Community College Hall of Fame. In 1961, Anabo transferred to

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

to play for the

. The Bulldogs played two different units of offensive players, and Anabo split playing time with fellow quarterback Beau Carter. He was credited for leading the Bulldogs to an upset victory of the University of the Pacific in the game's final seconds. The Bulldogs had a perfect season in 1961 as Anabo passed for 454 yards and eight

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. Fresno State defeated the

Bowling Green Falcons The Bowling Green Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Bowling Green State University (BGSU), in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The Falcons compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Div ...

36–6 in the

Mercy Bowl The Mercy Bowl was the name to two one-off charity bowl games played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The first was played between Fresno State University and Bowling Green State University on November 23, 1961, as a ...

, and Anabo was named to the

West Coast Small College All-Star team the following week. In 1962, Anabo and Carter were described as the "best 1-2 quarterback punch on the West Coast". The duo ranked sixth in the nation in total passing yardage through the third week of November. Anabo set new records for Fresno State in passing and was again named to the All-Coast team. Anabo was selected for the All-American Bowl representing the Small Schools All-Star team, and the Small Schools won the annual game for the first time after Anabo scored a touchdown on a quarterback run in the fourth quarter. He ended his college career with 96 completions on 178 attempted passes for 1,334 yards and 17 touchdowns. Anabo also participated in the high jump event for the

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

team at Fresno State.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

In 1962, the

selected Anabo in the nineteenth round of the

with the 263rd overall pick. The

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

selected Anabo the following year in the twenty-third round of the

with the 177th overall pick. Anabo chose to sign with the Browns in January 1963. After attending training camp with the Browns, Anabo was placed on the

for the entirety of the 1963 season. Anabo attempted to make the Browns' regular season roster in 1964. In his first drive with the Browns during a preseason game, Anabo threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to flanker Walter Roberts. In September, the Browns released Anabo as part of their final roster cuts before the regular season.

Edmonton Eskimos

After being released by the Browns, Anabo signed with the

of the

. He played six regular season games for the Eskimos in 1964, passing for 621 yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions. By the end of the season, Anabo was starting for the Eskimos. He played in five regular season games in 1965 but averaged only 3.9 yards per attempt. In August, Anabo suffered a minor injury which he played through later in the month. After starting the season with a 0–5 record, the Eskimos cut Anabo in late August.

Later life

After retiring from professional football, Anabo coached high school football at Hoover High School. After serving as a quarterback and receivers coach at Fresno State, Anabo started a career in broadcasting as a football color commentator.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anabo, Jon 1939 births Living people American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Fresno State Bulldogs football players Cleveland Browns players Edmonton Elks players Players of American football from California Sports coaches from Los Angeles High school football coaches in California Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches