Herbert Walter Joesting (April 17, 1905 – October 1, 1963) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He was a consensus All-American fullback while playing for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

in both 1926 and 1927. He also played three seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1954.

Early years

Joesting was born in

Little Falls, Minnesota Little Falls is a city in Morrison County, Minnesota, United States, near the geographic center of the state. Established in 1848, Little Falls is one of the oldest European-American cities in Minnesota. It is the county seat of Morrison County. ...

, and grew up in

Owatonna, Minnesota Owatonna () is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair i ...

. He played high school football at Owatonna High School and set the school's scoring record in 1923 with 89 points. He became known as the "Owatonna Thunderbolt".

University of Minnesota

Joesting enrolled at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in 1924 and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its ince ...

team from 1925 to 1927. As a junior in 1926, he rushed for 962 yards in eight games and led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

in scoring with 13 touchdowns and 78 points. His 13 touchdowns also tied

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

's single-season record. After the 1926 season, he was voted by his teammates to be the captain of the 1927 Minnesota team.

Potsy Clark George M. "Potsy" Clark (March 20, 1894 – November 8, 1972) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State University, ( ...

called Joesting the best fullback he ever saw. Joesting won numerous honors during his time at Minnesota. He was selected as a consensus fullback on the

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

and

1927 College Football All-America Team The 1927 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1927. The seven selectors recognized by the ...

s. He also won first-team All-Big Ten Conference honors for three consecutive years in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

, and

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

. He was later inducted into the

in 1954, the

Helms Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

Football Hall of Fame in 1961, and the University of Minnesota Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. While at the University of Minnesota, Joesting was a member of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

fraternity, at the same time as

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL), renowned for his strength and size. Nagurski was also a successful professional w ...

Professional basketball and football

After leaving the University of Minnesota, Joesting played professional basketball in 1928 with the field artillery basketball team of Minneapolis. In 1929, he joined the

Minneapolis Red Jackets The Minneapolis Marines were an early professional football team that existed from 1905 until 1924. The team was later resurrected from 1929 to 1930 under the Minneapolis Red Jackets name. The Marines were owned locally by Minneapolitans John Dunn ...

as player-coach, leading the team to a 1–9 record. In 1930, he was traded to the

Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won ...

. He played for Frankford and the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in 1931 and finished his career with the Bears in 1932.

Later years

In 1930, Joesting began a career, interrupted by leaves to play professional football, with the Minnesota Department of Motor Vehicles, becoming supervisor of deputy registrars in 1952. Joesting died of heart disease in 1963 at age 58 while driving a car near his home in St. Paul, Minnesota.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joesting, Herb 1905 births 1963 deaths American football fullbacks Chicago Bears players Frankford Yellow Jackets coaches Frankford Yellow Jackets players Minneapolis Red Jackets coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Little Falls, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota People from Owatonna, Minnesota