Joseph Benton Steffy, Jr. (April 3, 1926 – May 22, 2011) was an American football player. He went to fight in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and received the Bronze Star Medal and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. Steffy was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Early life

Steffy was born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

on April 3, 1926. He attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

, where he played on the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

for one season in 1944. That year, the Volunteers went undefeated in the regular season, but lost to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

in the Rose Bowl. The following year, he enrolled at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, where he played for the Army football team for three seasons as an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

and as a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

on defense. The Cadets went undefeated in 1945 and 1946. In 1947, Steffy was named team captain.

Military service

He graduated from USMA in 1949. In April 1950, he married Ann née Brown. As a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

, Steffy served in the

, where he suffered

frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the ha ...

and was wounded in the foot by a grenade. Due to his injuries, he was evacuated from

Hungnam Hŭngnam is a district of Hamhung, the second largest city in North Korea. It is a port city on the eastern coast on the Sea of Japan. It is only from the slightly inland city of Hamhung. In 2005 it became a ward of Hamhung. History The port a ...

to Japan, and later awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Later life

After the war, Steffy served on the Army football staff as the freshman team coach. He later owned a car dealership in

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...

. With his wife, who died in 2004, he had one son. Steffy died of a heart ailment on May 22, 2011 in

at age of 85.

References

External links

* 1926 births 2011 deaths Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee American football offensive guards Tennessee Volunteers football players Army Black Knights football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army officers {{Offensive-lineman-1920s-stub