John Homer Cook Jr. (December 19, 1925 – September 17, 1986) 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 ...

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 ...

who played one season with the

Regina Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. With a few exceptions, a senior men's football championship has been contested in Western Canada since 1911 ...

(WIFU). He 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 Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Early life and college

John Homer Cook Jr. was born on December 19, 1925, in

Lenox, Georgia Lenox is a town in Cook County, Georgia, United States. The population was 752 at the 2020 census. History Lenox was platted in 1888, when the railroad was extended to that point. According to tradition, the town was named after a certain "lean o ...

. Cook lettered for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

of the

in 1943, earning

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 ...

first-team

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

honors at halfback. After the 1943 season, head coach

Wally Butts James Wallace Butts Jr. (February 7, 1905 – December 17, 1973) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at the University of Georgia from 1939 to 1960, compiling a record of 140– ...

moved Cook to quarterback. However, Cook then served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

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 ...

from June 1944 until spring 1946. He returned to the Bulldogs in 1946 and earned a letter for that season. Due to an injury to

John Rauch John Rauch (August 20, 1927 – June 10, 2008), also known by his nickname "Johnny Rauch", was an American football player and coach. He was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the team's loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II in earl ...

, Cook was Georgia's starting quarterback for the 70–7 victory over Furman on October 26, 1946. Overall in 1946, Cook completed 18 of 27 passes (66.7%) for 223 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing 13 times for 55 yards and one touchdown.

Professional career

Cook was selected by 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 ...

in the 23rd round, with the 233rd overall pick, of the 1945 NFL draft. However, his selection by the Cardinals was later declared ineligible. He was also selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the 29th round, with the 274th overall pick, of the

1946 NFL draft The 1946 NFL draft was held on January 14, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. The selections were initially withheld from the public out of fear that the newly formed All-America Football Conference would sign away players ...

. Cook played in 11 games, all starts, for the

of the

in 1948 and scored three passing touchdowns. The Roughriders finished the season with a 3–9 record.

Personal life

Cook was an SEC football official for 30 years until retiring in 1984. He was also the vice president of the Citizens Federal Savings and Loan Association in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He died of leukemia on September 17, 1986, in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

at the age of 60.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Johnny 1925 births 1986 deaths Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football quarterbacks American football halfbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Georgia Bulldogs football players Saskatchewan Roughriders players People from Cook County, Georgia Deaths from leukemia in the United States United States Army Air Forces personnel College football officials