John Helton (born 23 May 1947) is a former defensive tackle for the Calgary Stampeders from 1969 to 1978 and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1979 to 1982 of the Canadian Football League.

High school and college

John Helton graduated from Captain Jack High School in Mount Union, Pennsylvania. Helton was selected in the seventh round of the

1969 NFL Draft The 1969 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League (AFL) held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place January 28–29, 1969. The draft beg ...

by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

after a stellar career at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, but opted to go to Canada.

CFL

John Helton was a CFL-All Star 10 times in 14 years of play at

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. Helton won a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

with the Stampeders in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. He also lost the

58th Grey Cup The 58th Grey Cup was played on November 28, 1970, before 32,669 fans at CNE Stadium in Toronto. The Montreal Alouettes defeated the Calgary Stampeders 23–10. The 1970 Grey Cup marks the only time in CFL history that two third-place teams have m ...

in 1970 to the Montreal Alouettes on a very muddy field.

Honors

Helton was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

in 1986. He was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1993. In November 2006, Helton was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#12) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network/TSN, witth no defensive lineman being ahead of him.

References

External links

* 1947 births Living people American players of Canadian football Arizona State Sun Devils football players Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football defensive linemen Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners Winnipeg Blue Bombers players {{Canadianfootball-defensive-lineman-stub