| No. 62 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Center | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1948-04-16)April 16, 1948 (age 77) Southbridge, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Southbridge (MA) | ||||||||
| College: | Boston College | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1970: 4th round, 101st pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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John Robert Fitzgerald (born April 16, 1948) is an American former professionalfootballcenter in theNational Football League (NFL) for theDallas Cowboys. He was selected in the fourth round of the1970 NFL draft. He playedcollege football atBoston College
Fitzgerald attendedSouthbridge High School inSouthbridge, Massachusetts, where he started as a 315 lbfullback. He also competed in theshot put.
He accepted a football scholarship fromBoston College, where he became a two-way tackle, playing both offense and defense during his three-year varsity career.
In 1982, he was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame.
Fitzgerald was selected by theDallas Cowboys in the fourth round (101st overall) of the1970 NFL draft. The team played him first as adefensive tackle, before trying him at differentoffensive line positions. He was waived before the start of the season on September 2.[1] He was later signed to thetaxi squad.
In1971, he was a backup atoffensive guard. In1972, he was converted into acenter duringtraining camp and was the backup behindDave Manders.
In1973, he took over the starting position from Manders, at the time, he was taller than the prototypecenter.[2] In1974, he missed 2 games, but was able to start most of the season while limited with an injured knee and an injured elbow.
In1975, head coachTom Landry re-introduced to theNFL theshotgun formation. Fitzgerald took great pride in making it work, with his ability to snap the ball 7 yards back without looking.[3]
In1977, he missed 2 games with knee and ankle injuries. He re-injured the knee during a practice in December, but still managed to play throughout the playoffs. In1978, he missed 2 games while battling through ankle, shoulder and back spams problems.
In1979, Fitzgerald named theoffensive line as the "Four Irishmen and a Scott", referring to himself,Pat Donovan,Jim Cooper,Tom Rafferty andHerb Scott.
In1980, he missed 2 regular season games and 3 playoff contests with shoulder and knee injuries.Robert Shaw was his replacement.
On August 31,1981, he was placed on theinjured reserve list, he was i.[4] On January 11,1982, he announced his retirement due to injuries andTom Rafferty being already entrenched at the startingcenter position.
Fitzgerald never appeared in aPro Bowl, but still became a central part of a strongoffensive line in Dallas for most of the decade.[5] He helped the Cowboys win 2Super Bowl championships and make playoff appearances every season except one during his time. He played in 138 games over 10NFL seasons.