John George Reger (September 11, 1931 – September 19, 2013) was a

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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for 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 ...

and the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, and participated in three

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

s during his 12-year career. Reger played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. He died in Tampa, Florida in 2013.

Early life

Reger was born on September 11, 1931, in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

. He attended Linsley Military Institute in Wheeling. He played fullback and linebacker on the school's football team. In 1949, he was named captain of the All-Ohio Valley Conference team, as well as being named All-Valley and All-City. He married Janice McCray in 1950, and after leaving college early, and worked for five years at a Wheeling gas station. In 1993, he was inducted into the Upper Ohio Valley Dapper Dan Hall of Fame.

College football

Reger received a scholarship to the

. His freshman team was undefeated in 1950, but when he joined the varsity a year later, he suffered a knee injury in the third game, ending his college football and academic career.

Professional football

Pittsburgh Steelers

In 1955, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave Reger a tryout on the recommendation of his Linsley football coach. The Steelers signed him to play guard and linebacker, but linebacker became his position. He started 10 games at right linebacker in 1955, with five fumble recoveries; and started eight at left linebacker in 1956, with two interceptions each of his first two years. From 1957-60 he started every Steelers game at right linebacker, and had five fumble recoveries again, in 1957. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1959 and 1960. He was selected the Steelers Most Valuable Player in 1959. In 1959, the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP) named him second-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 ...

, and ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' selected him first-team All-Conference. In 1960, the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary new ...

(NEA) and

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI) named him second-team All-Pro, with ''The Sporting News'' again naming him first-team All-Conference. In 1961, the NFL went from a 12 to 14 game schedule, and Reger started 13 of 14 games for the Steelers. He was again named to the Pro Bowl, and was again selected by the NEA as a second-team All-Pro, and selected first-team All-Conference by ''The Sporting News''. He played two more years for the Steelers, but only started a total of 11 games over that time. In his final Steelers season, Reger was seriously injured in a game against 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He suffered a blow to the head that caused his throat to spasm, cutting off his air supply. An ambulance eventually came with oxygen and Reger was revived. Without that intervention, he would have died. Thereafter, the NFL required teams to have oxygen on the sideline.

Washington Redskins

Coach

Buddy Parker Raymond Klein "Buddy" Parker (December 16, 1913 – March 22, 1982) was an American football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL), who served as head coach for the Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions, and Pittsburgh Steelers. Pa ...

waived Reger before the start of the 1964 season. Reger then spent his final three years in the NFL playing left linebacker for the

, starting in all 40 games he played. Reger had retired after the 1965 season, and moved to Florida to start a landscaping business. At the request of Washington coach

Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League ...

, he came out of retirement for the 1966 season. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, he had career highs in interceptions (3), returning one for a touchdown in 1964. He had six

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s in 1964 out of his 10 total sacks, to go along with three fumble recoveries, while playing for Washington. The 1966 linebacking corps included Reger, and future Hall of Fame linebackers

Sam Huff Robert Lee "Sam" Huff (October 4, 1934 – November 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He played college footba ...

and

Chris Hanburger Christian G. Hanburger Jr. (born August 13, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire 14-year career with the Washington Redskins, from 1965 t ...

. Over his 12-year career, he had 15 interceptions, 20 fumble recoveries, and two defensive touchdowns.

Personal life

After retiring, in 1971, Reger ended his landscaping business in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

, and he and his family moved to

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, where they owned the Dam Shanty restaurant.

Death

Reger died on September 19, 2013, in Tampa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reger, John 1931 births 2013 deaths American football linebackers Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Washington Redskins players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players