John Stanley Brockington (born September 7, 1948) is a former

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 with ...

player, a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

in 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) with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. He was a first round

draft choice A draft is a process used in some countries (especially in North America) and sports (especially in Closed league, closed leagues) to allocate certain players to teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players. Whe ...

out of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, and was the

NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

in .

College career

Born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Brockington played halfback and fullback for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

from 1968 to

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. He was one of the so-called Super Sophomores who led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season and a consensus national championship in 1968. Brockington and the other Super Sophomores finished their college careers with a record Brockington played left halfback in 1968 and 1969, used primarily as a blocker for fullback

Jim Otis James Lloyd Otis (born April 29, 1948) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1970s. Otis played college football for Ohio St ...

and

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 1970, Brockington moved to the fullback position and was the featured

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University (1946–1948), Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (1949–1950), and Ohio State University (1951 ...

' offense. Brockington finished his senior season with 1,142 rushing yards, which was at the time an Ohio State single-season record; he also scored 17 rushing touchdowns that season. Brockington was selected onto the Buckeyes' All-Century Team in 2000, and was elected into the Varsity O Hall of Fame in 2002.

Professional career

Brockington was the ninth overall selection in the 1971 NFL Draft, after

Jim Plunkett James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. He achieved his greatest professional success during his final eight seasons with the ...

Dan Pastorini Dante Anthony Pastorini (born May 26, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. He played college football at Santa Clara University and wa ...

Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints from 1971 to 1982 and al ...

, and

John Riggins Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played col ...

, and ahead of

Jack Tatum John David Tatum (November 18, 1948 – July 27, 2010) was an American football safety. He played 10 seasons, from 1971 through 1980, with the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers in the National Football League (NFL). He was popularly known as " ...

Jack Youngblood Herbert Jackson Youngblood III (born January 26, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

Jack Ham Jack Raphael Ham Jr. (born December 23, 1948) is an American former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1971 to 1982. He is considered one of ...

and

Dan Dierdorf Daniel Lee Dierdorf (born June 29, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former football offensive tackle. A native of Canton, Ohio, Dierdorf played college football for the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1970 and was selected as a conse ...

. Brockington became the first NFL player to ever rush for 1,000 or more yards in each of his first three seasons. In his rookie year of

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 ...

with the Green Bay Packers, Brockington was named

by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, rushing for 1,105 yards and a 5.1 YPC in 14 games. Brockington retired with the second most rushing yards in Packers franchise history with 5,024 yards. As of December 2022 Brockington ranks fourth in all time rushing yards as a Packer. Brockington was named 1st 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 th ...

in , 1st and 2nd Team All-Pro in and All-

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

in . Brockington was also selected to three consecutive

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

s (

– 1973). His first running mate in the Green Bay backfield was sixth-year halfback

Donny Anderson Garry Don "Donny" Anderson (born May 16, 1943) is a former professional football player, a halfback and punter for nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League. From Texas Tech (then Texas Te ...

, another Packer first round draft choice, who was traded the following offseason to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

for running back

MacArthur Lane MacArthur Lane (March 16, 1942 – May 4, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons, from 1968 to 1978 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and K ...

. Together, Brockington and Lane formed a dynamic running duo in the backfield, carrying the Packers offense between

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and 1974. The Packers won the NFC Central division in 1972 for their first

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

berth in five years. With a running style based on his great strength, Brockington epitomized the power running back – a player who preferred to break

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and run over defenders rather than run away from them. He was one of the first running backs to combine brute force with speed. Brockington's success was short-lived; after eclipsing 1,000 yards rushing during each of his first three seasons, he ran for 883 yards in 1974 (with a career-high 43 receptions for 314 yards), but dipped to only 434 yards rushing on 3.0 YPC in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

under new head coach

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Alab ...

. This was the result of typical wear-and-tear, the trade of Lane in July 1975 and changes in the Packers' playbook that did not take advantage of Brockington's abilities. In

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, he had 406 yards rushing with 3.5 YPC. After the first game of the 1977 season, Brockington was released by the Signed by the struggling

three weeks he appeared in ten games for them and retired following the season.

John Brockington Foundation

Established in 2002 after receiving a kidney transplant from his future wife Diane Scott, Brockington created
the John Brockington Foundation
to aid others impacted by kidney disease. They provide free screenings and educational material to those who require it, and also provide food vouchers for people on dialysis. Kidney drives also aid those seeking new kidneys.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brockington, John 1948 births Living people People from Brooklyn American football running backs Ohio State Buckeyes football players Green Bay Packers players National Conference Pro Bowl players National Football League Offensive Rookie of the Year Award winners Kansas City Chiefs players Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn) alumni