John Ayers (April 14, 1953 – October 2, 1995) was a

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 ...

offensive lineman from 1977 through 1987. During that span, he appeared in two Super Bowls: Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XIX for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Ayers was a key contributor on the final 89-yard drive that led to the play that has been immortalized as "

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" in the 1982 NFC Playoffs versus the

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. John Ayers played college football at

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on S ...

. He was also a member of the 1987

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team that lost Super Bowl XXII, but did not appear in that game. Ayers also served for a brief period as the figurehead President of

Bill Watts William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939) is a retired American professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a promoter in the Mid-South Un ...

' Universal Wrestling Federation. Ayers was diagnosed with liver cancer and died on October 2, 1995. His daughter, Jolee, was a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

References

External links

St. Petersburg Times
* http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1125154 * http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/features/superbowl/archives/16/ *http://johnayers86.blogspot.com/ 1953 births 1995 deaths People from Carrizo Springs, Texas American football offensive guards West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players San Francisco 49ers players Denver Broncos players Deaths from liver cancer Players of American football from Texas {{Offensive-lineman-1950s-stub