John Tuttle

All Conference/All-American Wide Receiver (1970-71)

John Tuttle began playing football at Wichita South High School his sophomore year.  He moved to Omaha Benson his junior year and finished back at Wichita South his senior year where he was coached by Louis Valadez, whose grandson is now playing for the 2002 Red Raven squad.

John started both ways as a high school senior: tight end and defensive end.  He was selected to Second Team All-City as a defensive end weighing only 170 pounds.  Luckily, John received a recruiting letter from Coffeyville Junior College to play football for the Red Ravens.  When John reported in August 1970, he was welcomed by a newly appointed head coach named Mark Bolick.  Due to Coach Bolick’s lack of familiarity with the squad, he asked that all attendees write down their names and positions.  The rest is history.

Two years later, John had caught a total of 69 passes for 1,001 yards and six touchdowns as a Red Raven.  During his sophomore year, John caught enough passes from quarterback Skip Hale to lead the nation in receptions and he was chosen for All-Conference and All-American.  After numerous scholarship offers from every major conference in the NCAA Divsion I, John chose Kansas State University because of their pro-style offense and quarterback Steve Grogan.

John led the Wildcats in receptions his senior year and was later drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals.  John also played for the San Antonio Wings in the WFL and the San Diego Chargers.  Bill Walsh was John’s receiver coach at Cincinnati and San Diego.

Today John lives in Texas, where he has worked as a broker in the financial services industry for the past 23 years.  John has a daughter named Courtney and a fiancée named Debbie Moore.