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{{Short description|American football player (1920–2000)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = John Grigas
| image = John_Grigas.png
| image_size
| alt =
| caption =
| number = 50
| position = [[Fullback (gridiron football)|Fullback]] / [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|8|19}}
| birth_place = [[Chelsea, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2000|5|19|1920|8|19}}
| death_place = [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 0
| weight_lb = 204
| high_school = [[Chelsea High School (Massachusetts)|Chelsea]]
| college = [[Holy Cross Crusaders football|Holy Cross]]
| draftyear = 1943
| draftround = 2
| draftpick = 14
| pastteams
* [[Chicago Cardinals]] ({{NFL Year|1943}})
* [[Card-Pitt]] ({{NFL Year|1944}})
* [[Boston Yanks]] ({{NFL Year|1945}}–{{NFL Year|1947}})
| highlights
* First-team All-NFL (1944)
* [[NFL kickoff return yards leader]] (1944)
* Second-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1941 College Football All-America Team|1941]])
* Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame (1976)
| statlabel1 = [[Rush (gridiron football)#Offense|Rushing]] attempts-yards
| statvalue1 = 465–1581
| statlabel2 = [[Reception (American football)|Receptions]]-yards
| statvalue2 = 30–379
| statlabel3 = [[Touchdown]]s
| statvalue3 = 11
|
|
|
}}
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==College career==
Grigas enrolled at the [[College of the Holy Cross]] in 1939 and played [[college football]] for the [[Holy Cross Crusaders football|Crusaders football]] team from 1940 to 1942. He was later inducted into the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|title=John J. Grigas Bio|publisher=Holy Cross|access-date=February 18, 2016|url=http://www.goholycross.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=33100&ATCLID=210240270|archive-date=March 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309115406/http://www.goholycross.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=33100&ATCLID=210240270|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On September 27, 1941, Grigas gained national attention after he rushed for 192 yards on 26 carries and scored all three Holy Cross touchdown in a 19–13 victory over [[1941 LSU Tigers football team|LSU]] at [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Players Fight as L.S.U. Loses: Holy Cross Wins by 19–13; Grigas Hero|newspaper=Des Moines Register|date=September 28, 1941|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4362914/players_fight_as_lsu_loses/}}</ref> He ranked third nationally behind [[Frank Sinkwich]] and [[Bill Dudley]] with 709 rushing yards in 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title=O'Brien's Pass Record Threatened By Wash. of St. Louis Ace|newspaper=The Big Spring Daily Herald|date=November 20, 1941|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4363133/obriens_pass_record_threatened/}}</ref> At the end of his junior season, Grigas was selected by the [[International News Service]] as a second-team back on its [[1941 College Football All-America Team]],<ref>{{cite news|title=1941 INS All-America team|newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=December 2, 1941|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4362970/1942_ins_all_america_team/}}</ref> and by the [[Newspaper Enterprise Association]] as a third-team All-American.<ref>{{cite news|title=Here is 1941 NEA All-America Team|newspaper=Hope Star|date=November 29, 1941|page=4|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4363003/1941_nea_all_america/}}</ref>
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==Professional football==
In March 1943, Grigas reported in Boston for induction into the Army, but he was rejected due to an undisclosed ailment.<ref>{{cite news|title=Grigas, Grid Star, Rejected|newspaper=The Berkshire Eagle|date=April 21, 1943|page=15|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4363419/grigas_grid_star_rejected/}}</ref> Grigas instead opted to play professional football after being selected by the [[Chicago Cardinals]] in the second round, 14th overall pick, of the [[1943 NFL
During the 1943 season, Grigas appeared in all 10 games, principally as a fullback, for a [[1943 Chicago Cardinals season|Chicago Cardinals]] team that compiled a winless 0–10 record.<ref>{{cite web|title=1943 Chicago Cardinals|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|access-date=February 19, 2016|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/crd/1943.htm}}</ref> In his rookie season, he was the Cardinals leading rusher and gained 558 yards from scrimmage, 333 rushing yards, and 225 receiving yards.<ref name=PFR/>
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During the 1944 season, Grigas appeared in nine games for the [[Card-Pitt]] (a temporary wartime merger of the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] and [[Chicago Cardinals]]), a team that compiled a winless 0–10 record.<ref>{{cite web|title=1944 Chi/Pit Cards/Steelers|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|access-date=February 19, 2016|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/crd/1944.htm}}</ref> Grigas ranked first in the NFL with 1,154 all-purpose yards and 471 kickoff return yards, second with 1,300 yards of total offense and 610 rushing yards, and eighth with 690 passing yards.<ref>{{cite news|title=1944 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Pro-Football-Reference.com|access-date=February 19, 2016|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1944/leaders.htm}}</ref> On November 12, 1944, he outgained the entire [[Detroit Lions]] team 123 rushing yards to 78 and 177 passing yards to 41, but the Lions still won, 21–7.<ref>{{cite news|title=Grigas Outgains Whole Lion Team, but Card-Pitts Lose, 21–7|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=November 13, 1944|page=12|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4362731/griggs_outgains_whole_lion_team/}}</ref> At the end of the 1944 season, Grigas was selected as a first-team All-NFL player by the [[International News Service]] and as a second-team All-NFL player by the [[United Press International]].<ref name=PFR/> He was also one of six players to receive votes in balloting for the [[National Football League Most Valuable Player Award#Joe F. Carr Trophy|NFL Most Valuable Player Award]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Sinkwich Gets Most Valuable Player Award|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=April 3, 1945|page=10|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4363664/sinkwich_gets_mvp_award/}}</ref>
Grigas could have accumulated even more impressive statistics in 1944, but he quit the team before the final game, leaving the team with a letter citing his mental exhaustion at playing with a team that had gone 0–9 in the first nine games. Grigas wrote:<blockquote>"My action, for what I just did, may not be the best in regard to good, ethical business. Think what you may of me, but I sincerely believe that in all justice it is for the best. I had that desire which you so often mentioned in your lectures, but how long a person can have any desire depends on the frame of mind under which he plays. The human mind is the faculty of the soul, which is influenced by the human body. When your mind is changed because of the physical beating, week in and week out, your soul isn't in the game. . . . I tried to stick it out, but it has reached the stage where the mind is stronger than the will."<ref>{{cite news|title=Pro Gridders Draw Checks, Go Home|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|date=December 5, 1944|page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4362670/pro_gridders_draws_checks_go_home/}}</ref></blockquote>
Chicago coach [[Phil Handler]] later explained Grigas decision as follows:<blockquote>"He worked days in a steel mill at a job where he had to stand all the time. The team practiced at night and because of a shortage of backs Grigas had to work out both on offense and defense. Then Sundays he played sixty-minute football. The strain was too great, and he finally gave up."<ref>{{cite news|title=What Happened To Johnny Grigas?|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=January 7, 1945|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4363628/what_happened_to_johnny_grigas/}}</ref></blockquote>
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==Later years==
After retiring from the NFL, Grigas worked for 35 years as an industrial engineer for the American Optical Co. in [[Southbridge, Massachusetts]]. He and his wife, Helen, had two daughters. He died in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], in 2000 at age 79.<ref>{{cite news|title=In Memoriam|publisher=Holy Cross Magazine|date=Summer 2000|url=http://www.holycross.edu/departments/publicaffairs/hcm/summer00/in_memoriam/1927.html|access-date=2016-02-19|archive-date=2016-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404144512/http://www.holycross.edu/departments/publicaffairs/hcm/summer00/in_memoriam/1927.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:Holy Cross Crusaders football players]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Suffolk County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Chelsea, Massachusetts]]
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