Joe Guyon

Though he often played second fiddle to the star power that was Jim Thorpe, Joe Guyon may be the second most talented athlete of Native American descent to have ever graced the gridiron. We look more into the story of a man that was a champion from the beginning right through the end of his career with low points in between.

College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Guyon is no stranger to the pages and podcasts of Pigskin Dispatch. There are numerous times that we have had the brilliance of Joe grace the history of both pro and college football, just so a search on ”Joe Guyon” on PigskinDispatch.com and you will see what I mean.

What we are going to do in this segment is going a little bit deeper into the legend of this great player.

Joseph Napoleon Guyon was born in the fall of 1892 near White Earth, Minnesota. His birthday has been reported with dates from September through November by different sources. Yes, Joe was a Native American Indian from the Chippewa Tribe and was born O-Gee-Chidah on the White Earth Indian Reservation. He may be best recalled early in his life as being Jim Thorpe’s teammate at Carlisle under the coaching of Pop Warner. You may recall in our recent piece on the Carlisle versus Army game of 1912 where a block by Guyon on Army’s big star tackle and team captain Leland Devore got the giant cadet so angry that when he went after Joe on the ensuing kick off the officials had to toss Levore out of the game for the violence he displayed on an unsuspecting Guyon with a vicious blindside hit. Joe was darn near knocked unconscious by the cheap shot. Devore had gotten frustrated when on a touchdown sweep play just before the disqualifying conduct, Guyon along with Jim Thorpe had double-teamed Army’s best blocker to clear the way on a touchdown run by Carlisle’s Arcasa. It was basically the play that broke Army’s back in the game and then with Devore getting the boot, it made it that much easier for Pop Warne’s squad to cruise to victory.

When Thorpe graduated in 1912, Guyon was the man that would become the key cog in Carlisle’s offense as the featured halfback. He did pretty well in that role too as Walter Camp honored the back as being named to the Father of Modern Football’s second-team All-America squad in 1913.  It is a sad state of affairs but with all those years of being associated with the Carlisle School, it is reported in his HOF bio that he really only had a sixth-grade education. So in order to gain collegiate eligibility, Joe attended the Keewatin Academy in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, from 1914 to 1915.

After the 1913 season, Joe left Carlisle to head south to play on the Ramblin’ Wreck of Georgia Tech. The belief is that he made this move, not because of unhappiness with Carlisle but because he could be a player for his brother Charles “Wahoo” Guyon who was an assistant coach at GT.

There were no regrets about the move because Guyon in the backfield put the Georgia Tech eleven over the top. His first run from scrimmage for Tech was a 75-yard touchdown against Wake Forest. Joe went on to be an All-American halfback at Georgia Tech in 1918 and also helped the team gain prominence and even win a National Championship in 1917.  The 1917 team went on to have a 9–0 record, scored 491 points, and was for many years considered "the greatest the South ever produced." Guyon played right halfback, where he was the team's power back and best passer. He was a unanimous All-Southern selection, and many considered him the South's best back in 1917. He played another year at Tech  in 1918 but besides being used as a halfback he also played tackle.
 To make a living, Joe’s best chance was to play football professionally.

Photo courtsy of Wikimedia Commons,  Joe Guyon, NFL Player, Tech Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1918

He also tried his hand at baseball playing for three seasons o minor league ball to make ends meet with the Louisville Colonels in the American Association. Guyon led the league in those three years batting .340. He was said to have played baseball at some point all the way until 1936.

In professional football, though according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s bio on the great player, he was a triple threat halfback that played in the NFL for the Canton Bulldogs, Washington Senators, Union Quakers of Philadelphia, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Cowboys, Oorang Indians,  Rock Island Independents, and the New York Football Giants. He was known as “Big Chief” by some and 

Joe as we stated earlier played his early collegiate ball with another great Native American, Jim Thorpe. Well for five straight seasons from 1919 through 1924 Guyon and Thorpe teamed up together over the span of those 5 seasons on four different teams. The year prior to the APFA forming in 1919 the two played for the Canton Bulldogs whole were the undisputed champs of professional football by having the best record of the teams that participated loosely in the mythical Ohio League. The two former Carlisle players seemed inseparable, but it was Thorpe that still garnered the headlines. As odd as it sounds Joe Guyon seemed to have his top seasons when he was not on the same team as Thorpe. That is true for college and at the professional level. The team dynamics without Thorpe seemed to have more success as well. Here is a look at the years they were together and apart as teammates.

Thorpe and Guyon as teammates
1912 Carlisle 12-1-1
1920 Canton  7-4-2
1921 Washington 1-2
1921 Cleveland 3-5
1922 Oorang 3-6
1923 Oorang 1-10
1924 Rock Island  5-2-2

With Thorpe & Guyon on the same team: Joe Guyon’s teams were 32-30-3

Guyon without Thorpe
1913 Carlisle 10-1-1
1917 Georgia Tech 9-0 National Champions
1918 Georgia Tech 6-1
1925 Kansas City Cowboys 2-5
1927 New York Giants 11-1-1 NFL Champions
 
Without Thorpe: Joe Guyon’s teams were 38-8-2

The 1927 Giants were 11-1-1 according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and were led by their defense which was tops in the league allowing only 20 points by opponents all season. Their offense led by Mr. Everything Joe Guyon who ran, passed, kicked, and punted was by far New Yorks's best offensive weapon as the Giant ranked second in the NFL in total offense that season.

The amazing thing is that he played on all of these teams and accomplished so much in just 8 seasons in the League. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted Joe Guyon into the entry class of 1966.

While still playing football, Guyon went into coaching serving in that capacity with Union College from 1919 through 1926 accumulating an overall record of 17-25-1. He also coached baseball as the head coach of the Clemson Tigers baseball team 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.

From a football aspect think of all the great coaches that mentored Guyon. We already told you about Pop Warner at Carlisle, well how about his coach at Georgia Tech John Heisman, and at Canton and Cleveland, Guy Chamberlain and with the Giants Earl Potteiger.

So Joe Guyon who started as a youngster in 1912 at Carlisle and is one of the top teams in the nation, to win the title in 1917 at Georgia Tech started off his Pro career on top with Canton in 1919 and finished it as a World Champion with the New York Giants in 1927.

The banner photo is of The 1917 Georgia Tech backfield. From left to right: Everett Strupper, Judy Harlan, Joe Guyon, and Albert Hill. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons and taken by an unknown.

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com