John Grantham, or Jake to his friends, a lifelong Chardon resident and avid Chardon football fan who spent decades on the chain gang, died Jan. 4 at the age of 84.
“Jake was a social guy,” remembers Bob Cromwell, his partner on the chains for about 10 seasons. “And he would talk with people on the sidelines, the coaches, anyone nearby. Everybody knew him, from the other side and the home team.”
Grantham was the clip guy, which meant that when the chain was set he could set the clip to hold the chain’s place in case the group had to scatter from an oncoming player.
Former Chardon coach Bob Doyle used to talk with Grantham during games. In the 1980 season, Doyle decided his team would switch sidelines during home games.
“There were more stands on that side, so there was more seating for our fans,” Doyle said. “And we wanted to change the culture, so we switched.”
Because the team now faced the press box, Grantham and his chain gang were on Doyle’s sideline.
“That was really neat for a lot of reasons,” he said. “When you have a Chardon fan running the chains, and the ball is on the 3-yard line, he could let us know if we needed an inch or a foot. He might say, ‘Hey coach, No. 67 is doing something illegal.’ It helped a little bit. It was a neat thing.”
Grantham graduated from Chardon High School in 1949, serving as class president. He went to Ohio State University, played football under Woody Hayes and joined the U.S. Army, serving in the Korean War.
He was eventually inducted into the Chardon High School Athletic Hall of Fame, and served as president of the Geauga County Touchdown Club.
Grantham coached St. Mary’s youth football teams and some of the players that were on Doyle’s 1994 state championship team.
“He was just a great fan of Chardon football,” Doyle said.
Cromwell also remembers Grantham’s stories, like the one about when he attended Bob Hope’s dedication of Chardon Community Boosters’ Club Memorial Field in 1948.
“I think I heard that story 15 times,” said Cromwell, not quite joking.