Joe Guyon

From NativeWiki

Joe Guyon (November 26, 1892 - November 27, 1971) was a professional football player in the National Football League. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966. Joe Guyon, an American Indian from the Chippewa Tribe, was born O-Gee-Chidah on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota. He received only a sixth-grade education from the American government. He used his athletic skills to gain a college education and a satisfying professional career. After playing on Georgia Tech’s national championship team in 1917, Joe signed to play pro football with the Canton Bulldogs in 1919.

After the NFL was organized in 1920, Guyon played seven more seasons with six different teams. From 1919 to 1924, Joe teamed with Jim Thorpe. The paths of the talented Indian pair parted late in the 1924 season when Guyon left the Rock Island Independents to go to the Kansas City Cowboys. Guyon stayed with the Cowboys in 1925 while Thorpe, then 37, moved on to the New York Giants. Two years later in 1927, Guyon became a Giant and played a major role in leading the New Yorkers to the 1927 NFL championship. The 1927 Giants compiled an 11-1-1 record largely on the strength of a superior defense that allowed only 20 points all season. Guyon, by passing, running, punting, tackling and blocking, played a leading role in scoring the necessary points for his team that also finished second in scoring that season.

Guyon was the head coach of the Clemson Tigers baseball team at Clemson University from 1928 to 1931. He managed the Anderson Electrics in the Palmetto League in 1931, the Asheville Tourists in 1932, and the Fieldale Towlers in 1936. He had previously hit over .340 three consecutive years in the American Association, which at AA, was at the highest classification of the era. His playing career as an outfielder extended from 1920 through 1936 with a break during his college coaching career.