Don Joyce (October 8, 1929 – February 26, 2012) was an
American football defensive end and
professional wrestler.
Early life
Joyce was born in
Steubenville, Ohio, to James and Frances Joyce. He attended
Steubenville High School
Steubenville High School is a public high school in Steubenville, Ohio, United States. It is the only secondary school in the Steubenville City School District.
Athletics
The school offers baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer, softball, ...
and
Tulane University. At Tulane, he
lettered in both 1949 and 1950 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was a member of the
Green Wave's last
Southeastern Conference championship team in 1949 (Tulane withdrew from the SEC following the 1965 football season).
American Football career
In the
1951 National Football League Draft, Joyce was picked 18th overall by the
Chicago Cardinals. He played with the Cardinals until being transferred to the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
three years later in 1954. During his career with the Colts, the team won the
NFL championship
Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
in 1958 and 1959. Joyce was named to the
Pro Bowl following the
1958 season. For the
1961 season, Joyce transferred to the
Minnesota Vikings. The following year, Joyce played for the
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
's
Denver Broncos. He played only six games for the Broncos, and retired after the 1962 season.
Professional wrestling career
Joyce was a
professional wrestler during the football off-season. Debuting in 1956, he worked mainly in and around the
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
area for
Vince McMahon, Sr.
Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), sometimes referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which was later renamed WWWF (World ...
He wrestled exclusively as a
face ("good guy") character, owing to his NFL contract which stated he could not work as a
heel
The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg.
Structure
To distribute the compressive for ...
("bad guy").
He sometime
teamed with
Gene Lipscomb
Eugene Allen "Gene" Lipscomb (August 9, 1931 – May 10, 1963) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons and a Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He was known by the nickname " ...
.
Personal life
Joyce was married and had three children.
After retiring from football and professional wrestling, Joyce worked as a football coach at
DeLaSalle High School
DeLaSalle High School is a Catholic, college preparatory high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is located on Nicollet Island.
History
DeLaSalle opened in 1900 and has been administered by the De La Salle Brothers (French Christian Brothers ...
in
Minneapolis for five years. He was also a football scout for thirty years, including seven years as the head scout for the Colts until 1995.
In 1983, Joyce was shot twice following a robbery in a hotel room in
Sikeston, Missouri, and required surgery to remove a bullet from his shoulder. His wife suffered a head injury after being
pistol-whip
Pistol-whipping or buffaloing is the act of using a handgun as a blunt weapon, wielding it as an improvised club. Such a practice dates to the time of muzzle loaders, which were brandished in such fashion in close-quarters combat once the weapon ...
ped, but both made a full recovery.
Joyce died on February 26, 2012, in
Mahtomedi, Minnesota, and was buried on March 2.
See also
*
Other American Football League players
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Don
1929 births
2012 deaths
American football defensive linemen
American male professional wrestlers
Baltimore Colts players
Denver Broncos (AFL) players
Chicago Cardinals players
Minnesota Vikings players
Sportspeople from Steubenville, Ohio
Tulane Green Wave football players
Western Conference Pro Bowl players