John L. (Mel) Doherty (April 21, 1894 − May 7, 1942) was a professional American football player-coach with the Cincinnati Celts of the "Ohio League" and its direct descendant, the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922).
The team played only four games in the AFPA, posting a 1–3 record.
Doherty also played football at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during World War I, and later served as an assistant coach at Xavier University.
He was also a popular bandleader in the Cincinnati area, during the 1920s, and later became a salesman for the Hudepohl Brewing Company.
This biographical article relating to an American football offensive lineman born in the 1890s is a stub.