Joseph Daniell Hoague (February 18, 1918 – January 4, 1991) was a professional

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 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) with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and later the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Steagles, and the

Boston Yanks The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Any games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox baseball schedule in the Ameri ...

. Prior to joining the NFL, Hoague 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 ...

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

Early career

Hoague began his athletic career while attending

The Governor's Academy The Governor's Academy is an independent school north of Boston located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States (town of Newbury), north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 412 students in grades nine through twelv ...

, the oldest

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in the

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. There he played five varsity sports serving as captain of the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team his senior year. In his junior year, Hoague played football,

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, and baseball; as a senior, he competed in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, winter track, and baseball. While at the school he was also awarded the Academy’s most honored prize, the Morse Flag, for earning the highest respect of the faculty.

College

Hoague graduated in 1937 and so afterwards attended Colgate University. At Colgate, he was a three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

and honorable All-American. He was inducted into the Colgate University Hall of Honor in 1990.

Pro football

After college, he was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the 13th round (111th overall) of the

1941 NFL Draft The 1941 National Football League Draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard InterContinental Washington, Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. With the List of first overall National Football League Draft picks, first overall pick of the draf ...

. His rights were transferred to the

due to the events later referred to as the

Pennsylvania Polka The Pennsylvania Polka refers to a series of moves affecting the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers franchises in the National Football League (NFL) from 1940 to 1941. Art Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, sold his team to Al ...

. He played in two seasons with the Steelers. However, he was later called up to fight in

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 ...

. He was drafted into the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and was out of football until 1946, when he played one last season with the Boston Yanks. However, before he left for the Navy, Steagles coach

Walt Kiesling Walter Andrew Kiesling (May 27, 1903 – March 2, 1962) was an American football guard and tackle who spent 36 years as a player, coach, and aide with National Football League (NFL) teams. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall ...

placed Hoague in the line-up once last time in a game against 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 ...

Coaching career

In 1980, Hoague was named to the National High School Association Hall of Fame for his dedication to coaching football at Melrose High School in

Melrose, Massachusetts Melrose is a city located in the Greater Boston metropolitan area in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population, per the 2020 United States Census, is 29,817. It is a suburb located approximately seven miles north of Boston. I ...

. Hoague achieved a combined record of 200 victories as a high school football coach at Melrose,

Natick Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

and Taunton High Schools. He also received recognition by his induction into the Massachusetts Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Governor's Academy profileLast Team Standing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoague, Joe 1918 births 1991 deaths Sportspeople from Brookline, Massachusetts United States Navy personnel of World War II Players of American football from Norfolk County, Massachusetts Boston Yanks players Pittsburgh Steelers players Steagles players and personnel Colgate Raiders football players The Governor's Academy alumni