John James Ferraro (1910 – September 28, 1981) was an American

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

player. He was an all-star football player in the

Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883, and in 1903 it became the first major competition to ado ...

and the

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

. He was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 1966 and the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. A graduate of

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1934 with a degree in hotel administration, he captained both the football and basketball teams and was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University, founded in 1893. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated that election into Quill and Dagger and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of unde ...

society. He came to Canada in 1934 and played two seasons with the Hamilton Tigers of the IRFU and played in the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

. Ferraro then moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

where he played for 4 teams. Starting in 1936, he suited up for the Montreal Indians,

Montreal Nationals The Montreal Nationals were a Canadian football team in Ontario Rugby Football Union. The team played in the 1938 season. The teams was preceded by the CNR Nationals, who played one year, 1937, in the short lived Quebec Rugby Football Union rev ...

, Montreal Westmounts and Montreal Bulldogs. He was also playing coach of the Tigers and Indians. Ferraro won the Imperial Oil Trophy in 1938 as MVP in the ORFU. He donated the trophy to the widow of

Ormond Beach Ormond Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropo ...

, a previous MVP who lost his life in an accident. The donors of the award sent a new trophy to Ferraro. Ferraro was married to Edna Letts, of Scotia, New York. He died aged 70, on September 28, 1981, at the Bridgewater Convalescent Center in

Bridgewater, New Jersey Bridgewater Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the heart of the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region. Situated within Central Jersey, Cen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferraro, Johnny 1910 births 1981 deaths Players of Canadian football from New York (state) Cornell Big Red football players Cornell Big Red men's basketball players Hamilton Tigers football players Ontario Rugby Football Union players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Cornell University School of Hotel Administration alumni Players of American football from Buffalo, New York