Joseph Charles Naekauna Francis Jr. (April 21, 1936 – April 15, 2013) was an American football halfback and quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). Following his playing career, he was a high school football head coach in his native Hawaii.

Early years

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii,"Former OSU Halfback Dies," ''Corvallis RGazette-Times,'' April 30, 2013; pg. B1. Francis attended

Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

in Honolulu and starred in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and graduated in 1954. Francis 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 ...

in the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

at Oregon State College in Corvallis, where he was a left halfback from 1954 to

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

for head coaches Kip Taylor and Tommy Prothro. As a junior in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

, Francis led the Beavers to the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Iowa, 35–19. He rushed for 73 yards and contributed 207 yards of total offense in the losing effort.''Can Joe Francis Start at Quarterback Today?''
OregonLive.com. Francis was named the team MVP for the

and

seasons. He won the Pop Warner Trophy as the outstanding senior player on the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

, and the Hayward Award as the outstanding amateur athlete in the state of Oregon in 1957. Oregon State was Coast champion again with Oregon, whom they defeated in the Civil War but the PCC had a no-repeat clause for the Rose Bowl, so the Webfoots went instead.

Playing career

Francis was selected in the

fifth round Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash t ...

of the

1958 NFL Draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

, 51st overall, by the one of the top drafts by a team in NFL history; ahead of Francis, the Packers selected linebacker Dan Currie (3rd), fullback Jim Taylor (15th), linebacker Ray Nitschke (36th), and guard

Jerry Kramer Gerald Louis Kramer (born January 23, 1936) is a former professional American football player, author and sports commentator, best remembered for his 11-year National Football League (NFL) career with the Green Bay Packers as an offensive linema ...

(39th). As a rookie in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

under first-year head coach Ray "Scooter" McLean, Francis started one game as quarterback, the season finale, and played behind

Babe Parilli Vito "Babe" Parilli (May 7, 1930 – July 15, 2017) was an American football quarterback and coach who played professionally for 18 seasons. Parilli spent five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), three in the Canadian Football League ( ...

and Bart Starr in the Packers' worst-ever season, finishing with a league low McLean's one-year contract was not renewed; he resigned days after the season and was succeeded in January

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

by Vince Lombardi. Francis saw limited action that season, relieving starter Lamar McHan on November 1, then didn't play again, as Starr became the starter. Francis broke his left leg early in training camp in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, ending his season, then incurred a knee injury in an intrasquad game in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, and was waived. Francis then played 1½ seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Montreal Alouettes in

and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

. He was sidelined most of 1961 and had off-season knee surgery.

After football

Upon retiring from pro football, Francis returned to Corvallis and was an assistant at Oregon State under head coach Prothro in 1963 and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. He then returned to Hawaii to become a physical education teacher and football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

at Pearl City High School, and retired in 2001.

Personal life

Francis married three times and fathered eleven children: nine sons and two daughters. A son, Jon Francis (b.1964), played running back for

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

in the WAC and

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

in the Big Sky Conference. He was selected in the

seventh round Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season epi ...

(184th overall) of the

1986 NFL draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and played for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. Another son, Ikaika Alama-Francis (b.1984), was a defensive end for the University of Hawaii and was selected in the second round (58th overall) of the 2007 NFL draft by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He played five seasons in the league, two with Detroit and three with the Miami Dolphins.

Death and honors

After an extended illness, Francis died at his Kaneohe home at age 76 in 2013. He was elected to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.

References

External links

*
CFLapedia.com
– Joe Francis

– collegiate statistics – Joe Francis {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Joe 1936 births 2013 deaths Native Hawaiian sportspeople Sportspeople from Honolulu Players of American football from Honolulu American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Kamehameha Schools alumni Oregon State Beavers football players Green Bay Packers players Montreal Alouettes players Coaches of American football from Hawaii High school football coaches in Hawaii