John Regan Blackinger (July 6, 1905 – October 31, 1986) was an American football executive and politician. He served as the first general manager of the San Francisco 49ers from 1946 to 1947 and later was the mayor of Atherton, California.
When the San Francisco 49ers of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) were founded in 1945, Blackinger was hired as the team's general manager.[9] He was able to receive the job due to being a college friend of team founder Tony Morabito; Blackinger hired typist and friend Louis Spadia (who ultimately was his successor) and publicist Buzz McGee to make up a three-man 49ers team office.[10][11] He helped run the team in the startup AAFC, a competitor to the National Football League (NFL), and was in his position for two years before resigning and being succeeded by Spadia: the team had a record of 9–5 in 1946 and 8–4–2 in 1947.[12][13][14] He left the 49ers to continue working in the dairy business, and retired from that job in 1970.[7][8]
In 1961, Blackinger received an appointment to the Atherton Planning Commission; three years later, he was appointed to the City Council upon the retirement of Nate Most.[8] He ran for election to the City Council in 1968 and won.[8][15] He also that year became the vice mayor of the city, and in December 1969, after the resignation of John Licata, became the mayor.[8][16] He served in each of these positions before retiring in 1976.[3]
Blackinger was a member of the San Francisco Rotary Club, Menlo Country Club, St. Francis Yacht Club, Atherton Civic Interest League and Holbrook-Palmer Park.[15] His first wife, Dorothy, predeceased him in 1982; he remarried to Audrey T. Blackinger.[17] He died at Stanford University Hospital on October 31, 1986, at the age of 81.[17]