John Helton


John Helton is a former defensive tackle for the Calgary Stampeders from 1969–1978 and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1979-1982 of the Canadian Football League.

High school and college

John Helton graduated from Captain Jack High School in Mount Union, Pennsylvania. Helton was selected in the seventh round of the 1969 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills after a stellar career at Arizona State University, 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 with the Stampeders in 1971. He also lost the 58th Grey Cup in 1970 to the Montreal Alouettes on a very muddy field.

Honors

Helton was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1986. He was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1993. In November 2006, Helton was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network/TSN, no defensive lineman being ahead of him.