{{Short description|American gridiron football player (1933–1993)}} {{about||the Canadian-American academic|John Witte Jr.}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox CFL biography |name=John Witte |image= |status= |import=Yes |position1=Tackle |birth_date={{birth date|1933|1|29}} |birth_place= |death_date={{death date and age|1993|3|17|1933|1|29}} |death_place= Portland, Oregon, U.S. |number=65<ref name="Pfa">{{cite web | url=https://www.profootballarchives.com/players/w/witt00700.html | title=JOHN WITTE | publisher=Pro Football Archives | accessdate=18 May 2025}}</ref> |college=Oregon State |high_school=Klamath Union {{nowrap|(Klamath Falls, Oregon)}} |height_ft=6 |height_in=3 |weight_lbs=235 |NFLDraftedYear=1955 |NFLDraftedRound=9 |NFLDraftedPick=103 |playing_years1={{CFL Year|1957}} |playing_team1=Saskatchewan Roughriders |career_highlights= * Consensus All-American (1956) * First-team All-American (1955) * 2× First-team All-PCC (1955, 1956) }} {{MedalTableTop|name=|image=|imagesize=|alt=|caption=}} {{MedalSport | Collegiate wrestling}} {{MedalCountry | }} the Oregon State Beavers {{MedalCompetition|NCAA Championships}} {{MedalSilver|1952 Fort Collins| Heavyweight}} {{MedalBottom}} '''John August Witte''' (January 29, 1933 – March 17, 1993) was an American professional football tackle who played one season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU). He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the ninth round of the 1955 NFL draft.
==Early life== Witte played college football at Oregon State University and attended Klamath Union High School in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He was a consensus All-American in 1956.<ref name="A">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZZAR0gioZYC&q=john+witte+oregon+state&pg=PA48 | title=Oregon State Football | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | author=Carlson, Kip | year=2006 | pages=48| isbn=9780738531373 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lostlettermen.com/player/profile/john-witte | title=John Witte | publisher=lostlettermen.com | accessdate=17 August 2014 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20140818010420/http://www.lostlettermen.com/player/profile/john-witte | archivedate=18 August 2014 }}</ref> Witte was also a wrestler at Oregon State and finished second at the NCAA Championships as a freshman.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.osubeavers.com/fls/30800/old_site/pdf/m-footbl/2012-13/misc_non_event/all-americans.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=30800 | title=JOHN WITTE • 1955 & 1956 | publisher=osubeavers.com | accessdate=17 August 2014 | archive-date=19 August 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090740/http://www.osubeavers.com/fls/30800/old_site/pdf/m-footbl/2012-13/misc_non_event/all-americans.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=30800 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He served in the United States Army during the Korean War and became a corporal.<ref name="C"/>
==Professional career== Witte was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the ninth round, with the 103rd overall pick, of the 1955 NFL draft.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1955/draft.htm | title=1955 NFL Draft | publisher=Sports Reference LLC | work=pro-football-reference.com | accessdate=17 August 2014}}</ref> He played in 13 games for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union in 1957.<ref name="Pfa"/>
==After football== After his football career, Witte had a brief career as a professional wrestler before moving into a career in education.<ref name=oregonian>{{cite news|title=Ex-OSU All-American Witte dies of leukemia at age 60|newspaper=The Oregonian|date=March 18, 1993|page=D5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cagematch.net/en/?id=2&nr=15839&page=4 | title=John Witte | publisher=Cagematch.net | accessdate=18 May 2025}}</ref> He taught high school and coached football, including 24 years at Jefferson High School, where he served 17 years as dean of students.<ref name=oregonian/> He died of leukemia in Portland in 1993.<ref name=oregonian/> He was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Oregon State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.<ref name="C">{{cite web | url=http://www.oregonsportshall.org/john_witte.html | title=John Witte – Football | publisher=oregonsportshall.org | accessdate=17 August 2014 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819125539/http://www.oregonsportshall.org/john_witte.html | archivedate=19 August 2014 }}</ref><ref name=oregonian/>
==See also== *List of gridiron football players who became professional wrestlers
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.justsportsstats.com/footballstatsindex.php?player_id=wittejoh002 Stats Crew profile] * {{Find a Grave|3945892}}
{{1956 College Football Consensus All-Americans}} {{Los Angeles Rams 1955 draft navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witte, John}} Category:1933 births Category:1993 deaths Category:Players of American football from Oregon Category:Players of Canadian football from Oregon Category:American football tackles Category:Canadian football tackles Category:Oregon State Beavers football players Category:Oregon State Beavers wrestlers Category:Deaths from leukemia in Oregon Category:Saskatchewan Roughriders players Category:All-American college football players Category:United States Army non-commissioned officers Category:People from Klamath Falls, Oregon Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War Category:Wrestlers from Oregon Category:American male professional wrestlers Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers Category:Professional wrestlers from Oregon Category:20th-century American sportsmen