John Helton is a former defensive tackle for the Calgary Stampeders

Calgary Stampeders

The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...

 from 1969–1978 and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...

 from 1979-1982 of the Canadian Football League

Canadian Football League

The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

.

High school and college

John Helton graduated from Captain Jack High School in Mount Union, Central Pennsylvania. Helton was selected in the seventh round of the 1969 NFL Draft

1969 NFL Draft

The 1969 National Football League Draft was part of the Common Draft, the third and final year in which the NFL and American Football League held a joint draft of college players. The draft took place on January 28–29, 1969....

 by the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 after a stellar career at Arizona State University

Arizona State University

Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...

, but opted to go to Canada.

CFL

John Helton was a CFL-All Star 10 times in 14 years of play at defensive tackle. Helton won a Grey Cup

Grey Cup

The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...

 with the Stampeders in 1971

59th Grey Cup

The 59th Grey Cup was played on November 28, 1971, before 34,404 fans at Vancouver's Empire Stadium.The Calgary Stampeders beat the Toronto Argonauts on a slick rain covered field in an extremely close 14 to 11 match.-Box Score:First Quarter...

, a year in which their defense was best in the CFL in points allowed, despite playing two more games than Eastern Conference teams. He also participated but lost the 58th Grey Cup

58th Grey Cup

The 58th Grey Cup was played on November 28, 1970 before 32,669 fans at Exhibition Stadium at Toronto. The Montreal Alouettes defeated the Calgary Stampeders 23 to 10...

 of 1970 to the Montreal Alouettes

Montreal Alouettes

The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...

 with Sonny Wade

Sonny Wade

Sonny Wade born April 1, 1947 in Martinsville, Virginia, a graduate of the "powerhouse" football program at Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League from 1969 to 1978....

 at quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 on a very muddy field. From 1969 to 1972, Helton played at left defensive tackle alongside fellow tackle Granville Liggins

Granville Liggins

Granville 'Granny' Liggins was an American football and a Canadian Football League player.-College:At the University of Oklahoma, Liggins was not only a football player, but also a wrestler...

 and in front of middle linebacker Wayne Harris

Wayne Harris

Carroll Wayne Harris is a retired American professional football player who was a linebacker for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League from 1961 through 1972.-High school and college:...

, making it difficult for opposing teams to run against. Both tackles also contributed with some ferocious pass rushing.

Helton was considered to be one of the physically strongest CFL players of his time, regularly beating other players in strength competitions.

Honors

Helton was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame

Canadian Football Hall of Fame

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian...

 in 1985. He was inducted into the Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

 Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1993. In November, 2006, Helton was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players

TSN Top 50 CFL Players

The TSN Top 50 CFL Players was a list of the greatest fifty Canadian Football League players, as selected by a panel of sixty former CFL players, then-current and former coaches, executives, and media members in 2006. The panel was assembled by sports television network TSN in partnership with the...

 (#12) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network

The Sports Network

The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...

/TSN, no defensive lineman being ahead of him.

Videos

CFL Hall of Fame member

Seen in game 3 of the 1970 Western Conference finals in its entirety, won by Calgary