Introduction
John Carl "Jack" Scarbath (born August 12, 1930 in Baltimore, Maryland) is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
Early life
Scarbath was born in Baltimore, Maryland on August 12, 1930 and attended high school at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. He played football as a quarterback and basketball as a guard. At Poly, Scarbath came to the attention of former Maryland coach and then university president Harry C. Byrd, who offered him a full athletic scholarship.
College career
As a freshman at the University of Maryland, Scarbath poured cement as a construction worker in the building of the school's Byrd Stadium. He later worked at a foundry, which also helped to keep him in shape for football.
In 1952, he was unanimously selected to the All-America first team and finished as the runner-up in votes for the Heisman Trophy. Scarbath was also Southern Conference Player of the Year and the South's Most Valuable Player in the North-South Game. He played lacrosse for Maryland during the 1952 season. Scarbath graduated from Maryland in 1954 with an industrial engineering degree.
Professional career
The Washington Redskins selected Scarbath in the first round of the 1953 NFL Draft as the third overall pick. He played with Washington from 1953 to 1954. In 1955, Scarbath played in the Canadian Football League for the Ottawa Rough Riders. He returned to the NFL to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1956.
Scarbath served as an assistant coach for the University of South Carolina. He later founded and served as the chief executive officer of his own business, John C. Scarbath and Sons abrasives company, which he sold in 1995. He then worked with the Maryland Education Foundation to provide college scholarships to prospective scholar-athletes. Scarbath is married to wife Marilyn, a former Maryland cheerleader.
The College Football Hall of Fame inducted Scarbath in 1983, and the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame inducted him in 1984.