Swampscott Youth Football Honors NFL Legend Dick Jauron with Helmet Tribute This Season – Swampscott Tides

This season, the Swampscott Big Blue Youth Football program will honor Dick Jauron, a Swampscott High School graduate who went on to play and coach in the National Football League (NFL).

Each Big Blue Youth Football player will wear a special helmet sticker this season to honor Jauron’s character, dedication to football, and lasting legacy. The stickers read “DJ #40” and are placed just below the helmet’s “S” for Swampscott. Jauron died in February.

“It’s really an amazing sport, just football itself, but we have this connection with the town and with the varsity team,” President Anhony Centola told the Swampscott Tides. “And Dick was a huge part of that. He was a big believer in the program.”

Jauron was born in Peoria, Illinois, and later moved to Lynn with his family. He attended Swampscott High School, where he was an honors student as well as a letterman in football, basketball and baseball. Parade named Jauron an All-American during his senior year, and The Boston Globe recognized him as one of the top ten all-time Massachusetts high school football players.

He received the Asa S. Bushnell Award as the Ivy League’s top football player. He also received the Bulger Lowe Award, given to New England’s most outstanding college football player.

Jauron was named a three-time first team college All-American and a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

After graduation, Jauron was selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions. That same year, he was also drafted in the 25th round as a shortstop by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jauron chose football, starting as a free safety for the Lions. In his second season, he was named to the 1975 Pro Bowl after leading the NFC in punt return average. Jauron played for the Lions for five seasons and the Cincinnati Bengals for three.

“The thing about Dick as a player, people talk about how talented he was, and he certainly was that but the thing that always stuck out to me was that…he was such a team player, and he was all about effort and sportsmanship and support his teammates,” said his brother Bob Jauron. “He always gave 100%. He always gave maximum effort, but he was always a teammate.”

He went on to coach in the NFL, starting with the Buffalo Bills in 1985. He became the twelfth head coach of the Chicago Bears, where he spent five seasons, compiling a 35–45 record and one playoff appearance. Jauron was able to bring the Bears from finishing in last in the NFC Central to a 13-3 campaign in 2001. He was named AP Coach of the Year in 2001, after becoming the third coach in the Bears’ history to record at least 13 wins in a season. 

Jauron also coached for the Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns. 

The Swampscott Big Blue Youth Football team described Jauron as a good man both on and off the field. Coaches said Jauron exemplifies the values they aim to teach their players: to be men of character beyond the game.

“We wanted to honor him because he’s such a tremendous legacy,” Centola said. “He’s the definition of legacy.”

Bob, whose grandson plays for the Big Blue Youth A-team, added that the sticker will allow the players to have someone to look up to.

“For kids to have someone like that to look at and look at his legacy, that’s the thing that really I think he brought that everyone that plays the sport can take away,” he said. “They picked a great example to honor him that way. He’d be very happy and proud to know that they did that.”