John Yonakor

Who was John Yonakor?

John Joseph "Jumbo" Yonakor was an American football defensive and offensive end in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League for the Cleveland Browns, New York Yanks, and the 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 Allouettes 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.