Joseph E. Cusack (January 13, 1868 – September 4, 1930) 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 an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Cusack was born into a military family of Irish immigrants in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, but as an infant was moved to

Fort Stockton, Texas Fort Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Pecos County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, future Interstate 14, U.S. Highways U.S. Route 67 (Texas), 67, U.S. Route 285 (Texas), 285, and U.S. R ...

and later to Fort Niobrara, Nebraska. In 1885, he enrolled at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and participated in their military cadet training program, achieving the rank of captain in Colonel William Hoynes' Light Guard, Company A. Cusack played as a halfback in the first-ever football game to be played at the university—an 8–0 loss to

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

on November 23, 1887. The following spring, Cusack moved to the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

position and played two additional games against

on consecutive days in April. The first was a 26–6 loss at South Bend's Green Stocking Ball Park in front of 400 spectators; the second was a 10–4 loss at Notre Dame. After becoming a member of the first graduating class out of

Sorin Hall Sorin Hall, also known as Sorin College, is the oldest of the 32 Residence Halls on the campus of the University of Notre Dame and one of the 16 male dorms. It is named after Edward Sorin, the founder of Notre Dame. Sorin is located directly nor ...

in 1889, Cusack enlisted in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and eventually achieved the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. He died in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and is buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

References

* * 1868 births 1930 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players United States Army officers Players of American football from New York City Burials at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery People from Fort Stockton, Texas Military personnel from Texas {{quarterback-stub