View source for Joe Guyon

{{short description|American football player and coach, baseball player and coach (1892–1971)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image       = Joe guyon in Carlisle.jpg
| image_size  = 
| caption     = Guyon at Carlisle in 1913  
| number      = 27, 11, 10, 26
| position    = [[Tackle (gridiron football position)|Tackle]], [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1892|11|26}}
| birth_place = [[White Earth, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1971|11|27|1892|11|26}}
| death_place = [[Louisville, Kentucky]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 5
| height_in   = 11
| weight_lbs  = 190
| college     = [[Carlisle Indians football|Carlisle]], [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football|Georgia Tech]]
| teams       =
* [[Canton Bulldogs]] (1919–{{NFL Year|1920}})
* [[Washington Senators (NFL)|Washington Senators]] ({{NFL Year|1921}})
* [[Union Quakers of Philadelphia]] (1921)
* [[Cleveland Tigers (NFL)|Cleveland Indians]] ({{NFL Year|1921}})
* [[Oorang Indians]] ({{NFL Year|1922}}–{{NFL Year|1923}})
* [[Rock Island Independents]] ({{NFL Year|1924}})
* [[Kansas City (NFL)|Kansas City Cowboys]] ({{NFL Year|1925}})
* [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1927}})
| statlabel1  = [[Touchdown|TD]]s
| statvalue1  = 10
| statlabel2  = Games played
| statvalue2  = 46
| statlabel3  =
| statvalue3  = 
| HOF         = joe-guyon
| CollegeHOF  = 1266
| highlights  =
*NFL champion (1927)
* Second-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1920 All-Pro Team|1920]])
* Third-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1924 All-Pro Team|1924]])
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team|1917]])
* 2× [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association|SIAA]] champion (1917, 1918)
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1918 College Football All-America Team|1918]])
* 2× Second-team All-American ([[1913 College Football All-America Team|1913]], [[1917 College Football All-America Team|1917]])
*[[College Football All-Southern Team|All-Southern]] (1917)
*Tech All-Era Team ([[John Heisman]] era)
*[[Associated Press|AP]] Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869–1919 era 
}}
'''Joseph Napoleon''' "'''Big Chief'''" '''Guyon''' ([[Ojibwe language|Anishinaabe]]: ''O-Gee-Chidah'', translated as "Big Brave";<ref name=profootballhof>{{cite web | work=[[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] | url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?PLAYER_ID=84 | title=Joe Guyon's HOF Profile | access-date=2009-01-21}}</ref> November 26, 1892 – November 27, 1971) was an [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] from the [[Ojibwa|Ojibwa tribe (Chippewa)]] who was an [[American football]] and [[baseball]] player and coach.  He played [[college football]] at the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] from 1912 to 1913 and [[Georgia Tech]] from 1917 to 1918 and with a number of professional clubs from 1919 to 1927.  He was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 1966 and the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1971.

==Early life==
Guyon was born on the [[White Earth Indian Reservation]] in [[White Earth, Minnesota]].<ref name=profootballhof />  He received only a sixth-grade education from the American government.<ref name=profootballhof /> Guyon also spent time in [[Magdalena, New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3842744/the_fort_wayne_journalgazette/|title=Georgia Tech Boasts All-Southern Eleven|work=Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette|date=November 20, 1918|access-date=December 17, 2015|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|page=6}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==Football career==

===College===

====Carlisle====
[[File:1912carlisle.jpg|thumb|left|Guyon with the 1912 Carlisle Indians]]
Guyon attended and played [[college football]] at the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] from [[1912 Carlisle Indians football team|1912]] to [[1913 Carlisle Indians football team|1913]] under head coach [[Glenn Scobey Warner|Pop Warner]].<ref name=collegefootballhof>{{College Football HoF|id=1266|name=Joe Guyon|accessdate=2009-01-21}}</ref> Sportswriters often tried to call him "[[Injun Joe]]" after the character in ''[[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer]]'', but it never much caught on outside the press.

The 1912 team posted a 12–1–1 record, scored 454 points,  and was [[Jim Thorpe]]'s greatest season. Guyon played on the team as left [[Tackle (gridiron football position)|tackle]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4v4TBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137|page=137|title=Native Americans in Sports|author=C. Richard King|isbn=9781317464037|date=2015-03-10|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> In the game against [[1912 Army Cadets football team|Army]] featuring the likes of future [[President of the United States|US President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], [[Leland Devore]] was ejected for manhandling Guyon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cumberlink.com/news/local/carlisle-vs-army-years-later-game-remembered-for-celebrity-players/article_76d688fc-2a06-11e2-a994-001a4bcf887a.html|title=Carlisle vs. Army: 100 years later, game remembered for celebrity players|first=Joseph Cress, The|last=Sentinel|date=8 November 2012 }}</ref>

The 1913 team went 10–1–1, scoring 296 points. Guyon shifted to Thorpe's place at [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]] and was honored by [[Walter Camp]] as a second-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]].<ref name="collegefootballhof" />

====Keewatin====
From 1914 to 1915, Guyon attended the Keewatin Academy in [[Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin]],<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1vAxDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 |title = Walter Lingo, Jim Thorpe, and the Oorang Indians: How a Dog Kennel Owner Created the NFL's Most Famous Traveling Team|isbn = 9781442277663|last1 = Willis|first1 = Chris|date = 2017-05-05| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref> to regain college eligibility.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dQiIWfGldIC&pg=PA21 | title=Duke Slater: Pioneering Black NFL Player and Judge| isbn=9780786469574| last1=Rozendaal| first1=Neal| date=2012-07-09| publisher=McFarland}}</ref>

====Georgia Tech====
Guyon then attended and played football at [[Georgia Institute of Technology|Georgia Tech]] from [[1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team|1917]] to [[1918 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team|1918]] under head coach [[John Heisman]].{{refn|group="n"|From 1914 to 1918, Georgia Tech had a 69-game unbeaten streak, during which in four (nonconsecutive) games of the streak Georgia Tech scored 222, 128, 119, and then 118.<ref name=collegefootballhof />}} Guyon was used mainly as a halfback. His brother Charles "Wahoo" Guyon was the assistant coach. For his time spent playing at Georgia Tech, Guyon was a unanimous selection for an ''Associated Press'' Southeast Area All-Time football team 1869-1919 era.<ref name="allse">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19690727&id=2eRGAAAAIBAJ&pg=2256,3526388|newspaper=Gadsden Times|date=July 27, 1969|title=All-Time Football Team Lists Greats Of Past, Present}}</ref> Fullback [[Judy Harlan]] said about Guyon, "Once in a while the Indian would come out in Joe, such as the nights Heisman gave us a white football and had us working out under the lights. That's when Guyon would give out the blood curdling war whoops."<ref name=umph142/>

=====1917=====
[[File:1917 Georgia Tech backfield.jpg|thumb|left|Tech's 1917 backfield; left to right: Strupper, Harlan, Guyon, and Hill]]
The 1917 team went 9–0, scored 491 points, was crowned national champion, and was for many years considered "the greatest the South ever produced."<ref>{{harvnb|Umphlett|1992|p=141}}</ref>  Guyon played right halfback, where he was the team's power back and best passer. He was a unanimous [[College Football All-Southern Team|All-Southern]] selection,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/officialfootball19181nati#page/n27/mode/2up/search/%22all-southern%22|title=Spalding Football Guide|date=1918|publisher=Shawnee Mission, Kansas, NCAA Publishing Service}}</ref> and considered by some the South's best back.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19171119&id=ofwgAAAAIBAJ&pg=2656,1867889|title=Strupper and Guyon of Georgia Tech Are Hailed As Two of the Greatest Pigskin Heroes In Seasons|work=The Day|date=November 19, 1917}}</ref> His first run from scrimmage for Tech was a 75-yard touchdown against [[1917 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team|Wake Forest]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://smartech.gatech.edu/jspui/bitstream/1853/26044/1/1917-10-02_07_01.pdf | title=Jackets Win Double Bill | work=[[The Technique]] | date=October 2, 1917 | page=4 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030215234/https://smartech.gatech.edu/jspui/bitstream/1853/26044/1/1917-10-02_07_01.pdf | archive-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref>

In a 63–0 rout of [[Washington & Lee Generals football|Washington & Lee]], Guyon knocked a Washington & Lee player out of the game by "wearing an old horse collar shaped into a shoulder pad but reinforced with a little steel" according to Judy Harlan.{{refn|group="n"|The player may have been [[Turner Bethel]], who was knocked out of the game and taken to a local hospital.<ref name=umph142>{{Harvnb|Umphlett|1992|p=142}}</ref><ref name=crushw>{{Cite news |date=1917-10-21 |title=Georgia Crushes W. and L. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-georgia-crushes-w-an/158763275/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |work=The New York Times |page=118 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>}} Against [[1917 Vanderbilt Commodores football team|Vanderbilt University]] he had arguably his greatest game, running 12 times for 344 yards in an 83–0 blowout.<ref name=collegefootballhof /> According to sportswriter [[Morgan Blake]], "Guyon has been great in all games this year. But Saturday he was the superman".<ref name=mcc5>{{Harvnb|McCarty|1988a|p=5}}</ref>

Against Tulane, each of the four members of the backfield eclipsed 100 yards rushing. "Strupper, Guyon, Hill, and Harlan form a backfield with no superiors and few equals in football history" wrote the ''[[Times-Picayune]]''.<ref name="mcc15">{{Harvnb|McCarty|1988b|p=15}}</ref>  He passed for two touchdowns and ran for one, passing 91 yards and running 112:<ref name="mcc15"/> "Guyon's passing was so accurate it suggest possibilities yet undeveloped in the Tech offense".<ref name="mcc15"/> In the large, 68–7 win over Auburn, Guyon once dove at its star [[Moon Ducote]] and missed, but Guyon gave chase from behind and tackled him at the 26-yard line.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/26046/1917-12-04_07_10.pdf?sequence=1|newspaper=The Technique|title=Golden Tornado Wins Great Victory|page=4|date=December 4, 1917}}</ref>

=====1918=====
The 1918 team went 6–1, scoring 462. Guyon was used mainly as a fullback, though sometimes as a tackle. He was honored as a [[Tackle (American and Canadian football)|tackle]] on [[Frank G. Menke]]'s first All-America team.<ref name=collegefootballhof />

===Professional===
[[File:Guyoninuniform.jpg|thumb|150px|Guyon as a professional player]]
Guyon signed to play professional football with the [[Canton Bulldogs]] in 1919.<ref name=profootballhof />  After the NFL was organized in 1920, he played seven more seasons with the [[Washington Senators (NFL)|Washington Senators]], [[Cleveland Tigers (NFL)|Cleveland Indians]], [[Oorang Indians]], [[Rock Island Independents]], [[Kansas City (NFL)|Kansas City Cowboys]], and the [[New York Giants]]. From 1919 to 1924, he teamed with another outstanding Indian halfback, [[Jim Thorpe]]. They parted ways late in the 1924 season when Guyon left the Independents to go to Kansas City. He stayed with the Cowboys in 1925 while Thorpe went to the Giants.<ref name=profootballhof />

Then in 1927, Guyon joined the Giants and helped lead the team to the [[1927 NFL season|1927 NFL Championship]].<ref name=profootballhof />

===Coaching===
Guyon coached the Bulldogs of [[Union University]] in [[Jackson, Tennessee]] in 1919.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lestweforget192000unio|title=Lest We Forget 1920|last=Union University|date=January 1, 1920|publisher=Student Organizations of Union University}}</ref> He returned to Union in 1923 and coached all sports from 1923 to 1927.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Coach Guyon Leaves Union|date=April 8, 1927|work=Cardinal and Cream|via=Union University Archives}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uu.edu/news/release.cfm?ID=1420|title=Union to induct six into Sports Hall of Fame Nov. 7 - News Release|date=5 November 2008 }}</ref> Union inducted Guyon into its sports hall of fame in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alumni Events 2008 |url=https://www.uu.edu/events/homecoming/2008/AlumniEvents_2008.pdf |access-date=2024-11-10 |website=Union University}}</ref>

Guyon coached the backfield of the [[1920 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team|1920 Georgia Tech team]].<ref>{{cite journal |date=1 January 1921 |title=Blue Print, 1921 |url=https://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/14415 |journal=School Yearbooks |publisher=Georgia Institute of Technology}}</ref> He also coached [[high school football]] at [[St. Xavier High School (Louisville)|St. Xavier High School]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]] from 1931 to 1933, with a 16–7–2 record.<ref name=collegefootballhof />

==Baseball career==
Guyon was also a "minor league baseball star".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Powers-Beck |first=Jeffrey |date=2011-08-16 |title="A Role New to the Race": A New History of the Nebraska Indians |url=http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2004NebrIndians.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522143415/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2004NebrIndians.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-22 |website=Nebraska History}}</ref>

===Player===
Guyon had previously hit over .340 three consecutive years for the [[Louisville Colonels (minor league baseball team)|Louisville Colonels]] in the [[American Association (20th century)|American Association]], which at [[Minor league baseball|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.

===Coach===
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.

==Head coaching record==
===Football===
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs football|Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1919
 | endyear   = single
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1919 college football season|1919]]
 | name         = Union
 | overall      = 2–5
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs football|Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs]]
 | conf      = Independent
 | startyear = 1923
 | endyear   = 1924
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1923 college football season|1923]]
 | name         = [[1923 Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs football team|Union]]
 | overall      = 4–4–1
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1924 college football season|1924]]
 | name         = [[1924 Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs football team|Union]]
 | overall      = 3–6
 | conference   = 
 | confstanding = 
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs football|Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs]]
 | conf      = [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]
 | startyear = 1925
 | endyear   = 1926
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1925 college football season|1925]]
 | name         = [[1925 Union (Tennessee) Bulldogs football team|Union]]
 | overall      = 5–4
 | conference   = 1–1
 | confstanding = T–11th
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship = 
 | year         = [[1926 college football season|1926]]
 | name         = Union
 | overall      = 3–6
 | conference   = 1–4
 | confstanding = 22nd
 | bowlname     = 
 | bowloutcome  = 
 | bcsbowl      = 
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = Union (Tennessee)
 | overall    = 17–25–1
 | confrecord = 2–5
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 17–25–1
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype = 
 | legend   = no
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

==Endnotes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite journal|last=McCarty |first=Bernie |title=Georgia Tech's 1917 backfield, better than the Four Horsemen: Part 1 |volume=1 |number=3 |date=February 1988 |journal=College Football Historical Society Newsletter |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv01/CFHSNv01n3a.pdf |ref={{harvid|McCarty|1988a}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120719/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv01/CFHSNv01n3a.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}
* {{cite journal|last=McCarty |first=Bernie |title=Georgia Tech's 1917 backfield, better than the Four Horsemen: Part 2 |volume=1 |number=4 |date=May 1988 |journal=College Football Historical Society Newsletter |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv01/CFHSNv01n4h.pdf |ref={{harvid|McCarty|1988b}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070443/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv01/CFHSNv01n4h.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/creatingbiggamej00umph|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/creatingbiggamej00umph/page/141 141]|title=Creating the Big Game: John W. Heisman and the Invention of American Football|first1=Wiley Lee |last1=Umphlett|date=1992|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-28404-5|location=Westport, CT}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{Profootballhof|84}}
* {{College Football HoF|1266}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=joe-guyon |pfr=G/GuyoJo20}}
* {{Baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br= |fangraphs= |cube= |brm=guyon-001jos}}
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{Navboxes| list1 =
{{Union Bulldogs football coach navbox}}
{{Clemson Tigers baseball coach navbox}}
{{1917 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football navbox}}
{{1927 New York Giants}}
{{1917 College Football Composite All-Southerns}}
{{1918 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{NFL1920s}}
{{1966 Football HOF}}
{{Pro Football Hall of Fame members}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guyon, Joe}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Native American people]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:American football tackles]]
[[Category:American football punters]]
[[Category:Asheville Tourists managers]]
[[Category:Asheville Tourists players]]
[[Category:Atlanta Crackers players]]
[[Category:Augusta Georgians players]]
[[Category:Canton Bulldogs players]]
[[Category:Canton Bulldogs (Ohio League) players]]
[[Category:Carlisle Indians football players]]
[[Category:Clemson Tigers baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Cleveland Tigers (NFL) players]]
[[Category:Fieldale Towlers players]]
[[Category:Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches]]
[[Category:Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players]]
[[Category:Little Rock Travelers players]]
[[Category:Louisville Colonels (minor league) players]]
[[Category:New York Giants players]]
[[Category:Oorang Indians players]]
[[Category:Rock Island Independents players]]
[[Category:Spartanburg Spartans players]]
[[Category:Union Bulldogs baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Union University Bulldogs football coaches]]
[[Category:Union Quakers of Philadelphia players]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in Kentucky]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:All-Southern college football players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:People from Becker County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Baseball coaches from Minnesota]]
[[Category:Native American sportspeople]]
[[Category:White Earth Nation people]]
[[Category:Kansas City Cowboys (NFL) players]]