He played in the first NFL Pro Bowl. Big John was a member of the National Football League Players Association, and Indiana University Members Association. He was named to the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991, and to the Post and Courier’s list of South Carolina’s 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.
Big John made his NFL Pro Bowl debut. As a member of the National Football League Players Association and Indiana University Members Association, he was honored with inductions into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991 and featured on the Post and Courier’s list of the state's most notable athletes of the century.