North Attleboro High School Alumni Association

Dr. Daniel M. DeYoung, M.D.
Honorary Alumnus
2008

In the fall of 1973, during a brief respite in the surgical lounge at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, MA, Dr. Maurice D. Grant, longtime team physician for the North Attleboro Red Rocketeer football team, commented that he was looking to cut back on some of his many commitments. He asked the fairly new surgeon sitting beside him if he'd be interested in attending a Big Red football game and perhaps assisting in the role of team physician. When Dr. Dan DeYoung agreed to check it out, he could not have imagined the drama that would unfold at his first North football game on a beautiful Thanksgiving morning in 1973. After witnessing North’s dramatic last-second victory over Attleboro at Community Field, Dr. DeYoung thought to himself, "Wow, this is fun!" He would become a fixture on the North sideline for the next thirty years.

A graduate of St. Mary's Central Catholic High School in Milford, MA, Dan DeYoung accepted a scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Attending as a day student, Dr. DeYoung frequently hitchhiked his way to and from "The Cross", eventually graduating Cum Laude in 1959 with a BA in Premed. He continued on to Tufts Medical School, earning his M.D. in 1963, and then completed his Internship at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA. In 1964, his country called and Dr. DeYoung served as a Medical Officer in the United States Navy until 1967. He went back to St. Vincent and completed his Residency, serving as the Chief Surgical Resident from 1970-71. In August of 1971, Dr. DeYoung found his home in the Department of Surgery at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, MA.

His odyssey as the attending physician at high school football games actually began while he was completing his residency in Worcester, where he served occasionally as the state mandated physician in attendance at nearby Shrewsbury High School games. Early in his tenure at North Attleboro High School, Dr. DeYoung realized that only attending the home games was not satisfying enough, so he took to the road with Big Red as often as possible. In his last 25 years as team doctor, he missed perhaps 15 out of the approximately 250 games. He amazingly kept his commitment to be at the games for over 30 years while simultaneously running his own medical practice, serving as Chief of Surgery at Sturdy, and starting and directing the Non-Invasive Vascular Lab at Sturdy. In addition, Dr. DeYoung remained a fixture on the North sideline while becoming the first physician to serve on the Board of Managers at the hospital, and finally, while serving as President of Sturdy Memorial Associates.

Over the years, Dr. DeYoung would not only treat football players on the sidelines, but he would find a way to squeeze them in to office appointments during the week, and he was regularly consulted throughout the year for assistance in the treatment of all athletes in the school. NAHS is deeply indebted for his skilled hands, his compassionate heart, and the quiet reassurance that he provided to the hundreds of Red Rocketeer players, coaches, cheerleaders, family members, and friends. Dr. DeYoung did all of this voluntarily without ever asking for or expecting anything in return.

The Attleboro Area Football Hall of Fame has recognized Dr. DeYoung’s efforts by inducting him as an Honorary Member in 1996. In 2005, The Fisher-Kelley Committee, at its yearly banquet for senior athletes, began presenting the annual Dr. Dan DeYoung Award to a senior athlete "whose dignity and selfless commitment to NAHS athletics, best exemplifies Dr. DeYoung's three decades of dedicated service to the student-athletes of North Attleboro."

Tonight, the NAHS Alumni Association is proud to bestow upon Dr. Dan DeYoung the title of Honorary Alumnus.