 Yonakor while playing for the Cleveland Browns | |||||||||
| No. 50, 79 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | End, Defensive end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | August 4, 1921 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | April 18, 2001 (aged 79) Euclid, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 222 lb (101 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Mechanic Arts (Boston, Massachusetts) | ||||||||
| College: | Notre Dame | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1945 / round: 1 / pick: 9 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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John Joseph "Jumbo" Yonakor (August 4, 1921 – April 18, 2001) was an American professional football defensive and offensive end in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, New York Yanks, and Washington Redskins.
Yonakor grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and played college football at the University of Notre Dame, where he was named an All-American on a team that won the national championship in 1943. After two years in the military during World War II, Yonakor was selected in the first round of the 1945 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He instead signed with the Browns of the upstart AAFC. Yonakor spent four seasons playing primarily as a defensive end for the Browns as the team won four league championships between 1946 and 1949. The Browns then sold Yonakor to the NFL's New York Yanks, where he played for a year. He then spent a season with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League. Returning to the NFL in 1952, he played a final season for the Redskins before retiring.
Yonakor worked in Cleveland's steel industry for several years after leaving pro football. He settled in Euclid, Ohio in the early 1960s and was an assembly-line worker making diesel engines for White Motor Company. His son Rich was a star athlete in Euclid and went on to play one season for the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs. Yonakor died in 2001.