John Kenneth Small (November 20, 1946 – December 10, 2012 ) was an

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Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and

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 ...

with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and the

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in the

National Football League (NFL) 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 ma ...

. A native of

Lumberton, North Carolina Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. As of 2020, its population was 19,025. It is the seat of Robeson County's government. Located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, Lumberton is located on the Lum ...

, he played collegiately for The Citadel in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

where he was a three-time all Southern Conference selection as well as an Honorable Mention All American pick as a sophomore and junior. In his senior season in 1969 he was a Second-team

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All American and a First-team pick by ''

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'', ''

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'', and the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He was the First Round pick and 12th overall selection by the

in the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, 1 ...

; he played for three years with the Falcons and two more with the

, retiring after the 1974 season. Small was a recipient of the Order of the Palmetto, the highest award given by the state of South Carolina; in 1977 he was a member of the inaugural class of the Citadel Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1988 he was inducted into the

South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame The South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame is an athletics hall of fame in the U.S. state of South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" ...

and that same year was named to the Southern Conference 75th Anniversary team. After football, Small was a speaker at schools and hospitals in the Augusta area. He helped create a Christian ministry program to help troubled youth called JKS Team Incorporated (where he led as CEO).

References

1946 births 2012 deaths People from Lumberton, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football linebackers The Citadel Bulldogs football players Atlanta Falcons players Detroit Lions players {{linebacker-1940s-stub