Biography

It is hard to find a more well-rounded football player than John Sullivan. During the 2001 Season, John was the Red Rocketeer’s best quarterback, best receiver, and best punter. While also a starting defensive back, John hardly ever left the field. North Attleboro Coach Paul Sullivan was fortunate to have his son John attend North Attleboro High School and not follow his path and attend Bishop Feehan. As a Senior Captain, John’s athletic ability, toughness, and versatility helped lead Big Red through an injury plagued season to become what many considered the best team in the state at season’s end.
Playing primarily for a running team, as quarterback John completed 14 of 32 passes for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns and led the team with 6 receptions for 130 yards. John’s athleticism in the defensive backfield helped lead a defense who let up only 84 points on the season. John’s toughness was proven second to none as he suffered a mid-season elbow fracture yet played through it and continued to lead the Rocketeers for the remainder of the season.

After a memorable defeat to Foxboro in 2000 in which Big Red’s winning streak came to an end, John and his other junior teammates promised the seniors that they would return and defeat Foxboro the following year. As one of his fondest memories, John made sure the 2001 Red Rocketeers avenged the previous loss, as promised, and shut out Foxboro 21-0 in their final game on Community Field. John helped deny three of Foxboro’s scoring chances by providing 2 key goal line stand tackles, a fumble recovery, and a 4th down pass deflection.

In what may have been the most dominant performance in the longstanding Thanksgiving Day Rivalry versus Attleboro, John helped lead the Red Rocketeers to a 33-7 victory in the final game of the season. John passed for 1 touchdown, ran for another and accounted for 103 yards of the 330 total yards amassed by the Big Red, while also leading the defensive effort which allowed only 109 total yards and only 5 first downs.

In recognition of his outstanding senior season, John was selected to the Hockomock League, Sun Chronicle, and Boston Globe All-Scholastic Teams. He was also selected to play in the annual Massachusetts Shriner’s Classic Game. John was later awarded the Dan Plumb Memorial Scholarship Award.

After high school John attended Bridgwater State College where he was a four year starter at defensive back. During his senior season John was 4th in the country in all divisions with his 8 interceptions and earned a spot on the Football Gazette All-East Team. John went on to receive his Bachelor of Science in Physical Education 2006 and a Master of Science in Strength and Conditioning 2009. John now works as an Athletic Performance Coach at Athletic Based Training in Holliston, MA and continues to contribute to the Red Rocketeer Football program as an assistant coach.