Jack Dugger

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Jack Dugger

| image = Jack Dugger.jpg

| number = 50, 74, 13

| position = Tackle
Defensive end

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|1|13|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|2|23|1923|1|13|mf=y}}

| death_place = Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 3

| weight_lb = 230

| high_school = Canton McKinley {{nowrap|(Canton, Ohio)}}

| college = Ohio State

| draftyear = 1945

| draftround = 2

| draftpick = 12

| pastteams =

Buffalo Bisons (1946)
Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1947|1948}})
Chicago Bears ({{NFL Year|1949}})

| highlights =

Consensus All-American (1944)
First-team All-Big Ten (1944)

| statleague = NFL/AAFC

| statlabel1 = Games played

| statvalue1 = 37

| statlabel2 = Games started

| statvalue2 = 12

| statlabel3 = Fumble recoveries

| statvalue3 = 2

| pfr = D/DuggJa20

}}

John Richard Rabbit Dugger (January 13, 1923 – February 23, 1988) was an American professional athlete who played football for three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears and professional basketball for one season with the Syracuse Nationals in the National Basketball League (NBL).

College career

Dugger was a nine-time letterman at Ohio State University who'd gone to high school at Canton McKinley High School in Canton, Ohio. In football, he started as a tackle in his sophomore year of 1942, but he switched to left end his

junior and senior years. He was a consensus first-team All-American in 1944.{{Cite web |title=PAUL WALKER |url=http://www.profootballarchives.com/walk06800.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820211554/http://www.profootballarchives.com/walk06800.html |archive-date=August 20, 2014 |access-date=August 19, 2014 |publisher=profootballarchives.com}}{{Cite web |year=2014 |title=2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf |publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) |page=6 |accessdate=August 16, 2014 |archive-date=May 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513011009/https://web.archive.org/web/20141006082159/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |title=JACK DUGGER |url=http://www.profootballarchives.com/dugg00600.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820222419/http://www.profootballarchives.com/dugg00600.html |archive-date=August 20, 2014 |access-date=August 19, 2014 |publisher=profootballarchives.com}}{{Cite web |title=Jack Dugger |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jack-dugger-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820232536/http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jack-dugger-1.html |archive-date=August 20, 2014 |access-date=August 19, 2014 |website=sports-reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference LLC}}

He also excelled as a shot-putter and discus thrower in track, and was a stand-out basketball player. He was voted Ohio State's most valuable basketball player in 1942. For three years, he earned letters in all three sports. He earned the Big 10 Award, for excellence in both athletics and academics.

Before the games were cancelled due to World War II, he was invited to try out for the Olympics as a shot-putter.

Professional career

He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 1945 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Buffalo Bisons of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

Dugger also played one year of professional basketball. He played for the Syracuse Nationals in the National Basketball League (NBL) during the 1946–47 season and averaged 1.7 points per game.{{Cite web |title=John Duggar NBL stats |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/nbl/players/d/duggejo01n.html |website=basketball-reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |accessdate=May 19, 2019}}{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2016 |title=Jack Dugger |url=http://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2016/03/jack-dugger.html |website=Peach Basket Society |accessdate=May 19, 2019}}

Later life

After leaving professional sports, Dugger went into trucking. He became president of Suburban Motor Freight, Point Express and Tucker Motor Freight. In 1979, he was elected to the Ohio State Sports Hall of Fame.