John Bernard Karrs (September 19, 1915 – November 27, 1999) was an American professional football quarterback who played for the Cleveland Rams in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Duquesne University.
| No. 35 | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | September 19, 1915 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died: | November 27, 1999 (aged 84) | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Arnold High | ||||||||||
| College: | Duquesne | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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He was also one of the first left-handed quarterbacks in the history of the NFL.[1]
Coaching career
editKarrs was a sports coach for several high school teams. He was primarily a coach at New Kenn High for years. In 1944, he was going to accept a new job at Waynesboro High School but ended up backing out shortly after and remaining a coach at Kenn High. However, he was on the hot seat and had an option to either coach at Kenn High, or play a season with the Cleveland Rams. He ended up choosing to play with the Rams and was no longer a coach at Kenn High.[2][3][4][5]
Professional career
editDespite not playing football for six seasons prior, Karrs signed with the Cleveland Rams in 1944. Playing in all ten games of the season and starting in eight, he threw four completions for 49 yards with a 23-yard pass being his longest of the season. He also rushed seven times for 0 total yards with his longest run being 3 yards.[6]
Karrs was still on the Rams in the 1945 offseason but got involved in a 2-for-1 trade that put him on the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks before the preseason began. He did not play an NFL game with the Steelers.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Donelli Has Tough Job in Pro League". The Herald-Press. September 8, 1944 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Penn May 'Fire' Johnny Karrs". The Pittsburgh Press. August 23, 1944 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "John Karrs Elected Coach At Waynesboro". The Evening Sun. August 1, 1944 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Johnny Karrs Only Returnee From '52 Staff". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. August 2, 1953 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Karrs Elected New Grid Coach At Penn High". The Pittsburgh Press. April 13, 1944 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "John Karrs NFL statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
- ^ "Schults Sent To Rams For Petchel, Karrs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 1, 1945 – via Newspapers.com.
