draftyear finalyear death_date death_place debutyear statvalue birth_place article_title position draftround college birth_date nfl number draftpick statlabel name
1945 1950 06 july 2010 covington , louisiana 1948 784 1 6 gilliam , louisiana john north -lrb- american football -rrb-
 end defensive end 6 vanderbilt 17 june 1921 nor595848 55 51 -lrb- by the washington redskins -rrb- receiving yards interceptions touchdowns john north
john north -lrb- american football -rrb-

john puckett north -lrb- june 17 , 1921 -- july 6 , 2010 -rrb- was an american football player and coach .
he played offensive and defensive end in the national football league for the baltimore colts , as well as for the baltimore colts of the all-america football conference .
he played college football at vanderbilt university and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1945 nfl draft by the washington redskins .
a native of gilliam , north grew up in old hickory , tenn. .
he lettered in football , basketball and track at castle heights high school in tennessee .
he is a member of the castle heights hall of fame .
after receiving several offers , he signed with vanderbilt , where he played football and basketball and ran track in 1942 .
but after his freshman year , he enlisted in the marines to fight in world war ii at the age of 17 .
he achieved the rank of sergeant , but was wounded on the island of tinian , having been shot multiple times in both calves , and was rushed to medical care .
his parents were told that he had died , and upon discovering he was alive but injured , inquired about his condition .
the doctors said he would never walk again .
this proved only to hold true for about a year .
he had begun walking around the hospital on his hands in his free time , and pushed himself hard in physical therapy , that he soon regained his strength .
he was awarded a purple heart .
after his playing career , north moved into coaching .
he was a high school coach in alabama , then in college at tennessee tech , kentucky , and lsu before moving into the professional ranks with the detroit lions .
in 1972 he became an assistant coach on the staff of new orleans saints coach j.d. roberts , then replaced roberts as head coach with two games remaining in the 1973 preseason , and in his first regular season game , the saints were embarrassed at tulane stadium by the rival atlanta falcons 62 -- 7 .
new orleans went 5 -- 9 in both 1973 and 1974 , the team 's final seasons at tulane stadium .
north led the saints into the louisiana superdome in 1975 , but was fired on october 27 following a 38 -- 14 loss to the los angeles rams which left the team 1-5 .
he subsequently spent seven years as an assistant coach for the atlanta falcons and one season as quarterback coach for the usfl new orleans breakers .
