John F. Barsha (born Abraham Barshofsky, December 25, 1898 – February 18, 1976), was a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

fullback who played for the

Rochester Jeffersons The Rochester Jeffersons from Rochester, New York played from 1898 to 1925, including play in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925. History Formed as an amateur outfit by a rag-tag group of Rochester-area teenagers after the turn of t ...

of the

American Professional Football Association 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 maj ...

(APFA) and the

Syracuse Pros A nameless professional American football team, based in Syracuse, New York and generically known as the Syracuse Pros or Syracuse Eleven, was once thought to have joined the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football ...

, who may or may not have been members of the same league. He 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. He was also nicknamed the "Brooklyn Bullet".

Early and personal life

Barsha was Jewish,''The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger''
/ref> and his family immigrated from Russia to the United States when he was a small child. He attended

Boys High School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in separate buildings or schools. The practice of ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. During his senior year of high school, he changed his name from Abraham Barshofsky to John Barsha. According to OrangeHoops.org, he did it to "hide his participation in an unscheduled game that his basketball team played without the coach's knowledge". He lived in Brooklyn, New York.John Barsha, 78, Lawyer, Football All‐America in 1918 - ''The New York Times''
/ref> Barsha also attended the

Syracuse University College of Law Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) is a Juris Doctor degree-granting law school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It is one of only four law schools in upstate New York. Syracuse was accredited by the American Bar Association ...

and worked as a lawyer. He also coached basketball and football at

Norwich High School Norwich High School is a public high school located in Norwich, Chenango County, New York, U.S.A., and is the only high school operated by the Norwich City School District. The ''Norwich High School'', (abbr. 'NHS'), is located on Midland Drive in ...

Norwich, New York Norwich is a city and county seat of Chenango County, New York, United States. Surrounded on all sides by the Town of Norwich,. The name is taken from Norwich, England. Its population was 7,190 at the 2010 census. Lt. Warren Eaton Airport ...

. He had two children (son; Jerry, and daughter; Betty Schwartz) with his wife Daisy Ferrari. He died at the age of 78 in 1976.

College career

Barsha

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 ...

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

for the Syracuse Orangemen of

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, serving as captain of both the basketball and the baseball teams. He was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

, and was a

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

graduate of the university. He lettered four seasons for the football team from 1916 to 1919. He was co‐captain of the 1918

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

All American football team and named an Honorable Mention. Barsha played guard on the basketball team. He played in 17 games, starting 16, during the 1917–18 college basketball season and averaged 2.0 points per game. The team finished with a 16–1 record and were later retroactively named national champions by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

. He played in 16 games, all starts, during the 1918–19 season and averaged 6.1 points per game. Barsha was the team's designated free throw shooter that season. He played in 18 games, all starts, during the 1919–20 season and averaged 3.5 points per game. He was a team captain that season. Barsha played in 51 games, starting 50, during his college basketball career and averaged 3.8 points per game. He also played

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

on the baseball team.

Professional career

Barsha played in three games, all starts, as a fullback for the

of the APFA in 1920 and scored one rushing touchdown. He later played for the

. After his professional career ended, Barsha worked as an attorney.

References

External links

*v {{DEFAULTSORT:Barsha, John 1898 births 1976 deaths American football fullbacks American football halfbacks American people of Russian-Jewish descent Guards (basketball) Baseball catchers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Russian players of American football Russian men's basketball players Russian baseball players Jewish Russian sportspeople Syracuse Orange football players Syracuse Orangemen baseball players Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Rochester Jeffersons players Syracuse Pros players Syracuse University College of Law alumni High school basketball coaches in New York (state) High school football coaches in New York (state) Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni Jewish American sportspeople Jewish American baseball people American men's basketball players 20th-century American Jews

Early and personal life

College career

Professional career

See also

References

External links