Joel Gregory Mason (March 12, 1912 – October 31, 1995) was a 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) as well as the National Basketball League (NBL).

Professional football and basketball careers

Mason played with the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

during the

1939 NFL season The 1939 NFL season was the 20th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL president Joseph Carr died, and Carl Storck was named to replace him. An NFL game was televised for the first time when NBC broadcast the O ...

. After two seasons away from the NFL, he would play four seasons with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. During his time with them he was a member of the 1944 NFL Champion Packers. Mason also appeared in one game for the

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season. History Overview The Redskins played in th ...

in the National Basketball League during the 1942–43 season. He failed to register a statistic in his lone appearance. He played at the collegiate level at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

Coaching career

After retiring from professional football, Mason became and assistant football coach at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

, and soon after became Wayne State's head basketball coach. Mason coached basketball for 18 years, from 1948 to 1966, winning 186 games and making one NCAA tournament appearance, in 1956. Mason was also the NBL's

Detroit Gems The Detroit Gems were an American professional basketball team based in Detroit, Michigan. It played one season, 1946–47, in the Western Division of the National Basketball League, a predecessor organization to the National Basketball Associati ...

during the first half of the 1946–47 season. He resigned, and player Fred Campbell took over to become player-coach.

Head coaching record

References

1912 births 1995 deaths American football ends Chicago Cardinals players Detroit Gems coaches Green Bay Packers players Sheboygan Red Skins players Wayne State Warriors football coaches Wayne State Warriors men's basketball coaches Western Michigan Broncos football players Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball players People from Iron River, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan {{Amfoot-bio-stub