Joshua Furnas (born December 16, 1984) is a former

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 wi ...

player, social advocate, and co-founder of Selfless Tee.

Early years

Furnas was born in Elmira, New York and attended high school at

Elmira Free Academy Ernie Davis Academy, formerly Elmira Free Academy, is the junior high school in Elmira, New York, United States. In September 2014 it merged with Southside High School (now Elmira High School). It has 855 students in grades 7–8 with a student- ...

. Furnas was a three-year starter on both the varsity football 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 t ...

teams. In 2003, Furnas was also awarded "Twin Tiers Defensive Player of the year" by the Elmira

Star-Gazette The ''Star-Gazette'' is the major newspaper for Elmira, New York. Based in Elmira, the publication is owned by Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. ...

. Furnas was also a co-recipient of EFA's Male Athlete of the Year award.

College career

Furnas played four seasons at

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

. He missed the entire 2003 and 2004 seasons due to injury; he was granted a medical red shirt his first year. In 2005, Josh hauled in seven catches for 101 yards. In 2006, Josh's final season, he caught seven passes for 90 yards and one touchdown. Josh's lone touchdown was against the then nationally ranked

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

Blue Hens.

After college

In 2007, Furnas graduated from Albany with a degree in business. Furnas spent the next few years as general manager of the Big Moose Deli & Country Store in

Hoosick, New York Hoosick is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 6,924 at the 2010 census. It was named from the Hoosic River. The Town of Hoosick is in the northeastern corner of Rensselaer County. History The town of Hoosick ...

. Furnas, along with former Albany teammate Danny Bocanegra, co-founded Selfless Tee. Selfless Tee is a for-profit organization geared toward making "fashionable clothing with a social conscience." In March 2010, Selfless Tee was awarded a $50,000

Pepsi Refresh Project The Pepsi Refresh Project (PRP) was a 2010 initiative by PepsiCo to award $20 million in grants to individuals, businesses and non-profits that promote a new idea that has a positive impact on their community, state, or the nation. The project is co ...

. In January 2013, Furnas was featured in a

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

news article about young entrepreneurs living in pop-up rentals. Furnas pays to rent a living room ''closet'' in a Bayview house of an Ecuadorian family of 7.

Misophonia

Furnas is a sufferer and well known awareness advocate of 'Hatred of Sound' Disorder,

Misophonia Misophonia is a disorder of decreased tolerance to specific sounds or their associated stimuli that has been characterized using different language and methodologies. Reactions to trigger sounds range from anger and annoyance to activating a fi ...

. On May 18, 2012 Furnas was featured on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's news magazine television show,

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

, openly speaking about his battle with misophonia.

TEDx

In 2012, Furnas began participating in independently organized

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

events promoting his ideas for social innovation. On November 10, 2012, Furnas was featured at TEDx Chemung River in New York. The topic which Furnas spoke of was "The Art of the Tee: Fashioning a Better World".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furnas, Joshua 1984 births Living people American football wide receivers Albany Great Danes football players Sportspeople from Elmira, New York People from Hoosick, New York University at Albany, SUNY alumni