John A. Armstrong Jr. (August 10, 1897 – April 30, 1960) 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 wi ...

player and coach. Armstrong was born in

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 ...

. From 1918 to 1922, he attended the

University of Dubuque The University of Dubuque (UD) is a private Presbyterian university in Dubuque, Iowa. About 2,200 students attend the university. History The University of Dubuque has had a long history in Dubuque since its founding in 1852. Early years Th ...

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

, where he was a four-sport athlete. A

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 ...

in college, Armstrong helped the school's football team win conference titles in 1919 and 1920. In addition, he received varsity letters in baseball, basketball, and track. Professionally, he played on the Rock Island Independents of 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), and later the first American Football League, from 1923 to 1926 as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

, halfback, and quarterback. The ''

Green Bay Press-Gazette The ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' is a newspaper whose primary coverage is of northeastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay. It was founded as the ''Green Bay Gazette'' in 1866 as a weekly paper, becoming a daily newspaper in 1871. The ''Green Ba ...

'' named Armstrong a third-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

in 1923. That season, Armstrong was the NFL leader in passing yards and passes intercepted, according to unofficial statistics. In 1924, Armstrong coached the Independents to a 5–2–2 record, and a fifth-place finish. For his last professional football season, 1926, he also served as coach for Rock Island in the AFL; the Independents were 2–6–1 that year. Armstrong also played minor league baseball for the Dubuque Climbers/Dubs/Ironmen and

Oklahoma City Indians The Oklahoma City Indians was the primary name of an American professional baseball team representing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, from 1904 though 1957, except for 1913 and three seasons during World War II. The team played in several different minor ...

from 1922 to 1928. He was the head football and basketball coach at Columbia College—now known as

Loras College Loras College is a private Catholic college in Dubuque, Iowa. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,600 students and is the oldest post-secondary institution in the state of Iowa. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degree ...

—in Dubuque, in addition to managing a recreation hall. In 1960, Armstrong died in Dubuque.

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* 1897 births 1960 deaths College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Dubuque Dubs players Dubuque Spartans football players Loras Duhawks football coaches Loras Duhawks men's basketball coaches Oklahoma City Indians players Players of American football from Kansas Rock Island Independents (AFL) players Rock Island Independents coaches Rock Island Independents players Sportspeople from Hutchinson, Kansas {{quarterback-stub