John William "Red" O'Quinn (September 7, 1925 – April 21, 2002) was a gridiron football

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 ...

Early years

John William "Red" O'Quinn, Jr. was born in Bluett Falls, North Carolina. He graduated from

Asheboro High School Asheboro High School is a public high school in the Asheboro City Schools system of Asheboro, North Carolina. Overview Asheboro High School graduated its first class of three graduates in 1905. In 1950, it moved to its current location on Park S ...

in Asheboro, North Carolina in 1943 and was inducted in the AHS Hall of Fame in 2004. O'Quinn played college football at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

between 1946 and 1949. He was a star receiver, with 1974 career yards, his best year being 1948, when he led the nation with 39 catches for 605 yards and seven

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. He was inducted into the Wake Forest University's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.

Professional career

NFL

O'Quinn was drafted by 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 ...

's Chicago Bears in the

1949 NFL Draft The 1949 National Football League Draft was held on December 21, 1948, at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The draft was preceded by a secret draft meeting held November 15, 1948, at the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh. This was the ...

, in the third round, 31st overall. He would play 12 games for the Bears in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

intercepting In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

three passes and returning one for a touchdown. He played two games with the Bears in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

before being traded to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, where he played two more games and caught three passes.

CFL

Red would move north to the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, where he would play eight seasons (1952–1959) and 110 regular season games. He teamed up with CFL great

Sam Etcheverry Samuel "The Rifle" Etcheverry (May 20, 1930 – August 29, 2009) was a professional American and Canadian football player and head coach. Etcheverry played the quarterback position, most famously with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Footba ...

to form one of the best pass and catch tandems in league history. He caught 499 passes for 7,699 yards and 34 touchdowns in his career (all team records until

Ben Cahoon Ben Cahoon (born July 16, 1972) is a former professional Canadian football slotback who spent his entire career with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. He won the award for the Most Outstanding Canadian in the CFL two years i ...

recently broke them) and was a five-time all-star. He played in three Grey Cup losses, though the classic 1954

42nd Grey Cup The 42nd Grey Cup football game was played on November 27, 1954, before a full house (27,321 in attendance) at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The underdog Edmonton Eskimos won a contest over the Montreal Alouettes 26–25. The game, ...

may have been his finest game. He caught a record 13 passes for a record 316 receiving yards, with 90 of those coming on one of the best pass touchdowns in Grey Cup history (and the second longest ever).

Post playing days

After his playing days and a short stint in industry, Red returned to football as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1962 to 1969, winning a pair of Grey Cups in 1968 and 1969. Red returned to the

in 1970 as general manager, where he teamed with his old friend and former QB Sam Ectheverry as the Alouettes new head coach. Together they took the team from last place to Grey Cup Champions in their first year together. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1981. Red died in Ottawa, Ontario, in 2002.

External links

Wake Forest Athletics Hall of FameNorth Carolina Sports Hall of Fame entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oquinn, John 1925 births 2002 deaths People from Brunswick County, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football wide receivers Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Chicago Bears players Philadelphia Eagles players American players of Canadian football Canadian football wide receivers Montreal Alouettes players Montreal Alouettes general managers Ottawa Rough Riders general managers Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees

Early years

Professional career

NFL

CFL

Post playing days

See also

External links