James E. Johnson (June 6, 1879 – January 19, 1942) 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. He was elected to 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 1969.

Biography

Johnson was born on June 6, 1879 in

Edgerton, Wisconsin Edgerton is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, Rock County and partly in Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 5,945 at the 2020 census. Of this, 5,799 were in Rock County, and 146 were in Dane Count ...

. Johnson, one-half Stockbridge Indian, attended

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from 1879 through 1918. It took over the historic Carlisl ...

from 1899 to 1903, where he starred on the Carlisle football team. Coached by

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

, the team was composed entirely of American Indian students and was a true national powerhouse in the early 20th century. In 1903,

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

named Johnson as the All-American quarterback. Johnson also served as Carlisle's team captain in the same season. Following his career at Carlisle, Johnson enrolled in Northwestern's Dental School and played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

during the 1904 and 1905 seasons, also becoming a team captain for Northwestern and leading the team to success despite a depleted roster. Following his playing career, Johnson became a dental surgeon in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

. He died at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

in Minnesota in 1942. Johnson was posthumously inducted into the

in 1969.

References

1879 births 1942 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football quarterbacks Carlisle Indians football players Northwestern Wildcats football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Edgerton, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Native American players of American football {{collegefootball-player-stub