Gammons was born on March 17, 1876 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He attended Brown University where he earned letters in football from 1895 to 1897, and baseball, including on the 1896 national championship team. He graduated from Brown in 1898, and then attended Harvard University in 1899 and 1900.\n', '

After college, Gammons embarked upon a professional career in the insurance business. In 1901, he founded his own insurance company, John A. Gammons, Inc. (later Gammons & Son), in Providence, Rhode Island, which still remained in business more than one hundred years later. One source considered Gammons to be "one of the leading insurance agents of Providence".\n', '

Gammons also continued his playing career in both football and baseball. In 1898, Gammons played football for the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club. At the end of Duquesne\'s season, he ran 60 yards on a punt return for a score against the 1898 Western Pennsylvania All-Star football team. While in 1899, he played football for the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, followed by the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in 1900 and 1901, and finally the Pittsburgh Stars of the 1902 National Football League. Gammons played semiprofessional baseball from 1898 to 1900 with clubs in Attleboro and North Attleboro, Massachusetts. In 1901, Gammons was approached by two professional teams: the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League and the Boston Beaneaters of the National League. He was hesitant to play professionally, because he wished to focus on his newly founded insurance business, but eventually signed with the Beaneaters. Gammons played with Boston for one season.\n', '

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