Joseph Thomas Julius (born March 26, 1995) is a former
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 ...
kicker
Kicker or The Kicker may refer to:
Sports
* Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football
* ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany
* Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player
* Kicker, the word used i ...
for the
Penn State Nittany Lions
The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...
.
Early years
Julius was born in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
and grew up in
Hummelstown
Hummelstown is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,535 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Originally named Fredrickstown, the town was establi ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, where he played football for
Lower Dauphin High School
Lower Dauphin High School is a midsized, suburban, public high school located in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lower Dauphin School District, serving Hummelstown, East Hanover, South Hanover, Londonderry Township, and Conewago ...
. He
lettered
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
four times as a punter and kicker, additionally playing defensive line, and was a two-time all-state selection, and he was named to the
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
All-Pennsylvania Team.
College career
As a
redshirt freshman
Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...
at Penn St. in 2015, Julius led the
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
and was number 21 nationally with an .833 field goal percentage, and he was selected to the BTN.com All-Freshman Team.
At 258 pounds,
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
called Julius the "hardest-hitting kicker in college football".
Julius made national headlines and received a "cult following" for his powerful hits against opposing players on kickoffs, with most videos going viral. Because of Julius' reputation for taking down opposing players, he himself became a target of blockers, as several players "returned the favor".
Fans began calling him "Big Toe Joe".
It was reported in July 2017, that Julius left the Penn State program. College football writer Barrett Sallee wrote, that Julius' "talents will be missed on the field in 2017, but he has more important challenges to face moving forward. Hopefully he attacks them with the same kind of tenacity that he did while storming downfield on kickoffs."
Eating disorder
On October 2, 2016, Julius posted in his
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
that after experiencing anxiety, depression, and weight gain, that he had for 11 years from an
eating disorder
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that negatively affect a person's physical or mental health. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed at a given time. Types of eating disorders include binge eating d ...
referred to as
binge eating
Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is a common symptom of eating disorders such as binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an exc ...
. He went public in order to help others who might struggle with something similar, and he urged them to immediately contact him so he could help them. Julius' personal story made international headlines, including in th
''Los Angeles Times''''The Washington Post''
an
''ABC News''
In May 2017, Julius re-entered treatment for an eating disorder, posting on Facebook that he had been struggling for a couple of months, and that it "got to the point where I had to return to St. Louis to seek further treatment at the McCallum place". He added that "recovery is a wonderful and beautiful thing" and he hoped that other people with similar struggles would seek help. Julius posted, "There is light at the end of the tunnel. It is just a very long tunnel." Friends and teammates came forward with praise for Julius's openness. Former teammate and best friend, Matt Zanellato said, "It's groundbreaking. I think he's giving a community a role model. I can only imagine how many people around the country his story has touched."
As of July 24, 2017, it was reported by head coach James Franklin, that Julius was removed from the Penn State Football roster and is in healthy recovery.
Personal life
Joey Julius was featured on the Shed Talk podcast in 2020 in Harrisburg, PA.Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
dealership in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius, Joey
1995 births
Living people
Eating disorders
Penn State Nittany Lions football players
American football placekickers
Players of American football from Madison, Wisconsin