John Patrick McCarthy (August 9, 1916 – May 12, 1998) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Early life and college

McCarthy graduated from

Camden Catholic High School Camden Catholic High School (CCHS) is a four-year comprehensive private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area in Cherry Hill, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school operates ...

in 1935 and

Saint Francis University Saint Francis University (SFU) is a private Catholic university in Loretto, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated ...

in 1942, where he was named to the first-team of the Little College All-American Football Team for 1941.

Professional career

McCarthy played in the National Football League for just one season in 1944. McCarthy played for "

Card-Pitt Card-Pitt was the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League (NFL) teams, the Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, during the 1944 season. It was the second such merger for the Steelers, who had combined with ...

", a team that was the result of a temporary merger between the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

and the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. The teams' merger was a result of the manning shortages experienced league-wide due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. McCarthy was brought in as the team's

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

after starter Coley McDonough was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

just six days prior to the team's second game. During a game against 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, McCarthy's 35 yard-per-punt average emboldened Card-Pitt to release Johnny Martin. At the end of the season, the Card-Pitt passers completed just 31% of their attempts, with eight

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s and 41

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, 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 ...

s (a record at the time, and still the third highest total in NFL history). McCarthy threw 13 of those interceptions, and did not throw any touchdown passes. His

quarterback rating Passer rating (also known as passing efficiency in college football) is a measure of the performance of passers, primarily quarterbacks, in gridiron football. There are two formulas currently in use: one used by both the National Football Leagu ...

was 3.0. He also was the punter for the Card-Pitt team averaging 33.4 yards for 24 punts.

Post-NFL career

McCarthy served in the Army Air Corp at the end of World War II. He was a pitcher for a Canadian-American League farm team of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

of Major League Baseball. He was a batting practice pitcher for the Phillies. He became teacher of business and accounting and a basketball coach. Over the next 25 years at

Gloucester Catholic High School Gloucester Catholic High School is a co-educational six-year Roman Catholic high school located in Gloucester City, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is managed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. The school ...

, Gloucester High School, and

Haddon Township High School Haddon Township High School is a four-year comprehensive community state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school serving students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades, located in Haddon Township, New Jersey, ...

in New Jersey his teams won more than 370 wins. His teams had 13 seasons with more than 20 wins and only one losing season. He was twice named South Jersey Coach of the Year. He was nicked named "The Silver Fox" because he was a wise strategist and he grayed prematurely in his 30s. He was an assistant men's basketball coach at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

under head coach

Don Casey Lawrence Donald Casey (born June 17, 1937) is an American former professional and collegiate basketball coach. He has coached two National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, the Los Angeles Clippers and the New Jersey Nets—each for a season ...

. during the 1973–1974; 1974–1975 and 1975–1976 seasons. In his late 40s, he took up marathon running. He competed in an ultra marathon race of miles in Cooper River Park at age 62. He completed his last competitive race was at age 72. He suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

and died at his home in the Westmont section of

Haddon Township, New Jersey Haddon Township is a township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 15,407, an increase of 700 (+4.8%) from the 2010 census count of 14,707, which in turn refle ...

at age 81. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery,

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a Township (New Jersey), township within Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a suburb of Philadelphia, the township is part of the South Jersey and Delaware Valley regions. Cherry Hill ...

.Hagenmayer, S. Joseph
"John P. Mccarthy, 81, S. Jersey Basketball Coach"
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', May 14, 1998. Accessed June 12, 2013.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, John 1916 births 1998 deaths Camden Catholic High School alumni Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football quarterbacks Saint Francis University alumni Saint Francis Red Flash football players Card-Pitt players People from Haddon Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Camden County, New Jersey United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II