John Barrow (Canadian football)

John Barrow

Personal information
Date of birth: (1935-10-31) October 31, 1935
Place of birth: Delray Beach, Florida
Career information
Debuted in 1957 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Last played in 1970 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Career history
Roster status: Retired
Career highlights and awards
N/A
Canadian Football Hall of Fame

John B. Barrow (born October 31, 1935) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive and defensive tackle in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for fourteen seasons in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Barrow played college football for the University of Florida, and was recognized as an All-American. Thereafter, he played professionally for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, and was later inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Early years

Barrow was born in Delray Beach, Florida in 1935. He attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was an offensive and defensive lineman for coach Bob Woodruff's Florida Gators football team from 1954 to 1956. As a senior in 1956, he was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection, a Football Writers Association of America first-team All-American, and the Gators' team captain. Barrow was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great."

Professional career

The Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) selected Barrow in the fifth round (fifty-ninth pick overall) of the 1957 NFL Draft, but he opted to play in the CFL instead. He played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1957 to 1970 as a defensive tackle, was a CFL All-Star at that position eleven times, and was voted the CFL "lineman of the century" in 1967. Barrow was a member of four Grey Cup-winning Tiger-Cats teams (1957, 1963, 1965, 1967), and played in five other Grey Cup championship games (1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964).

Retiring as a player after the 1970 season, Barrow became the Toronto Argonauts general manager from 1971 to 1975. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1976, and was voted one of the CFL's top 50 players (seventeenth) of all-time in a poll conducted by Canadian sports network TSN in 2006.

See also

• 1956 College Football All-America Team
• Florida Gators
• Florida Gators football, 1950–59
• List of Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees
• List of Florida Gators football All-Americans
• List of University of Florida alumni

Bibliography

• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
• McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
• McEwen, Tom, The Gators: A Story of Florida Football, The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). ISBN 0-87397-025-X.

External links

• Video clip – Canadian Football Hall of Fame video biography of John Barrow
• John Barrow football card gallery