John Zook
1969 / Round: 4 / Pick: 99 | |
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John Eldon Zook (September 24, 1947 – June 6, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Falcons. Zook played college football for the University of Kansas.
Zook was born in Garden City, Kansas, and grew up in Zook and Larned.[1][2] He was a three-year letterman, was picked twice for all-conference honors, anchoring one of the top defensive units ever taking the field at KU. He was an honorable mention All-American in 1967 and was a consensus All-America honors as the Jayhawks' defensive standout on the 1968 Orange Bowl-bound team, the year KU was named No. 6 by the Associated Press. Zook had 202 total tackles during his career, putting him at No. 4 on KU's all-time defensive line list. KU Coach Pepper Rodgers said Zook "never played but full speed from snap one to snap hundred. He was the most full-speed player on every snap that you could imagine."[3] He was also chosen in the KU All-Time team by the Lawrence Journal-World.[4]
Zook was drafted by the
Zook recorded the first ever safety for the Falcons franchise.
Zook died on June 6, 2020, in Kansas.[6]
References
- ^ "Longtime Atlanta Falcons DE John Zook dies at age 72". Associated Press. June 7, 2020.
- ^ "The Hutchinson News Online Edition". hutchnews.com. 2011-08-21. Archived from the original on 2011-08-21. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ^ KU Sports.com Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ KU Sports.com
- ^ Pro Football Reference.com
- ^ Hummer, Steve (June 7, 2020). "Goodbye John Zook, a classic Falcon". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.