Joseph Graham Fogg (July 6, 1882 – December 2, 1946) 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 for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

and the

Akron East Ends The Akron East Ends was an amateur American Football team that played in the Ohio League, a forerunner to the National Football League. They played in Akron, Ohio, from 1894 until at least 1904. Its primary rivals were the amateur Canton Athletic ...

. Born in

Mount Vernon, Iowa Mount Vernon is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, adjacent to the city of Lisbon. The population was 4,527 at the time of the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mount Vernon ...

, he was also the founder and president of the Cleveland Touchdown Club as well as prominent attorney in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. From 1909 until his death in 1946, he was a law partner at Calfee & Fogg, today known as Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP. During the beginning of his law career, he practiced part-time and coached the East High School football team. From 1907 to 1910, he was the head football coach at Case School of Applied Science—now known as

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

. He was later inducted into the school's varsity hall of fame on April 4, 1986. From 1898 to 1899, Fogg served with the 49th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Company "A" during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. Fogg was a part-owner of the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 194 ...

of 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).

Playing career

Collegiate career

Fogg played

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 ...

for the

from 1901 to 1903, starting during the

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

and

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

seasons.

1904 Akron–Massillon Ohio League championship

For one season, Fogg played professional football as

for the

in 1904. In a Thanksgiving Day game between the

Massillon Tigers The Massillon Tigers were an early professional football team from Massillon, Ohio. Playing in the "Ohio League", the team was a rival to the pre-National Football League version of the Canton Bulldogs. The Tigers won Ohio League championships ...

and Akron East Ends was scheduled to determine the champion of the "

Ohio League The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct pr ...

", which was the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League. During the game Massillon score the first

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

of the game (which counted as five points at the time) and made the

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

to make the score 6–0. In the last moments of the game though, Akron scored a touchdown to make the score 6–5. Fogg, who was Akron's

, had to make the extra point in order for East Ends to get a share of the title. Under the rules of the time, an extra point came on a free kick straight out from where the touchdown was scored (a rule still in place in both codes of

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

but not in American football, which abolished it upon the creation of

hash marks In sports, a hash mark or hash line is a short line/bar marking that is painted perpendicular to the sidelines or side barricades, used to help referees and players recognize on-field locations and visually measure distances. Hash marks serve th ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

). This made for a very difficult kick by Fogg since the touchdown was scored on a difficult angle from the goal posts and he had to deal with a crosswind blowing. Fogg missed the extra point as Massillon won the title.

Coaching career

Fogg began coaching football at East High School in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. While at Case Tech, Fogg continued the program success created by his predecessor,

Joseph Wentworth Joseph "Little Joe" Wentworth (January 29, 1877 – April 7, 1944) was an American football player, coach, and lawyer. Wentworth was born January 29, 1877, in Sandwich, New Hampshire, to Paul and Ellen Tilton (Dunklee) Wentworth. Wentworth at ...

, who had won the first four football titles of the

Ohio Athletic Conference The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) was formed in 1902 and is the third oldest athletic conference in the United States. Its current commissioner is Sarah Otey. Former commissioners include Mike Cleary, who was the first General Manager of a profe ...

(OAC). From 1907 to 1910, Fogg coached for a combined winning of 26–8–4 (.737). Against the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

, Fogg earned a perfect 4–0 record, where the Ohio State Championship Award was retired to the Case trophy case. Against rival Western Reserve, Fogg struggled against the teams coached by

William B. Seaman William Bryson "Budget" Seaman (c. 1875 – April 18, 1910) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Waynesburg College by—now known as Waynesburg University–in 1897, Washington & Jeffers ...

, going 0–2–1. After Seaman's death, Fogg finally defeated Western Reserve, coached by

Xen C. Scott Xenophon Cole "Xen" Scott (July 6, 1882 – April 21, 1924) was an American football player, coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and a sportswriter. He served as the head football coach at Western Reserve University in 1910, at the Cas ...

, in 1910.

Head coaching record

Legacy

In 1909, Fogg partnered with Robert M. Calfee, renaming the firm Calfee & Fogg. He remained a longtime partner and leader at the firm until his death on December 2, 1946, from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. Today, the

-based law firm is known as Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP. Fogg founded and served as the first president of the Cleveland Touchdown Club from 1938 to 1942. In his honor every year, the Cleveland Touchdown Club's Joe Fogg Memorial Award is presented to the national collegiate player of the year in the Midwest. His son, Joe G. Fogg, Jr., was a 1941 graduate from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and served in the

American Field Service AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professiona ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His unit, on active duty through

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, ultimately evacuated the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concent ...

. He died on April 2, 1992. Fogg is buried alongside his wife Mary at

Knollwood Cemetery Knollwood Cemetery is a cemetery located at 1678 SOM Center Road in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Established in 1908, it is one of the largest cemeteries in Cuyahoga County. A mausoleum was completed in 1926, and an expansion finished in 1959. The ceme ...

Mayfield Heights Mayfield Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is an east-side suburb of Cleveland. The population was 18,827 at the 2010 census. History Mayfield Heights was initially built up as a streetcar suburb of Cleveland. It was ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, inside the main mausoleum.

References

Additional sources

* * *

External links

Case Western Reserve profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fogg, Joe 1882 births 1946 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American football quarterbacks Akron East Ends players Case Western Spartans football coaches Wisconsin Badgers football players Cleveland Rams executives High school football coaches in Ohio Ohio lawyers People from Mount Vernon, Iowa Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Burials at Knollwood Cemetery Los Angeles Rams owners