Herbert Walter Joesting (April 17, 1905 – October 1, 1963) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He was a consensus All-American fullback while playing for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

in both 1926 and 1927. He also played three seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 1954.

Early years

Joesting was born in

Little Falls, Minnesota Little Falls is a city and the county seat of Morrison County, Minnesota, United States, near the geographic center of the state. The population was 9,140 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 8,343 in 2010 United States census ...

, and grew up in

Owatonna, Minnesota Owatonna ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,420 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County F ...

. He played high school football at

Owatonna High School Owatonna High School (OHS) is a public school in Owatonna, Minnesota, United States. The school was established in 1877. Construction of the current building started in 2021 and finished in 2023 and opened for students fall 2023. It currently has ...

and set the school's scoring record in 1923 with 89 points. He became known as the "Owatonna Thunderbolt".

University of Minnesota

Joesting enrolled at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1924 and played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its incept ...

team from 1925 to 1927. As a junior in 1926, he rushed for 962 yards in eight games and led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

in scoring with 13 touchdowns and 78 points. His 13 touchdowns also tied

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American professional American football, football Halfback (American football), halfback who played for the Chicag ...

's single-season record. After the 1926 season, he was voted by his teammates to be the captain of the 1927 Minnesota team.

Potsy Clark George M. "Potsy" Clark (March 20, 1894 – November 8, 1972) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State University, ...

called Joesting the best fullback he ever saw. Joesting won numerous honors during his time at Minnesota. He was selected as a consensus fullback on the

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

and 1927 College Football All-America Teams. He also won first-team All-Big Ten Conference honors for three consecutive years in

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

, and

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

. He was later inducted into the

in 1954, the

Helms Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

Football Hall of Fame in 1961, and the University of Minnesota Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992. While at the University of Minnesota, Joesting was a member of

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity, at the same time as

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-American professional football player who was a fullback and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Renowned for his strength and size, Nagurski ...

Professional basketball and football

After leaving the University of Minnesota, Joesting played professional basketball in 1928 with the field artillery basketball team of Minneapolis. In 1929, he joined the

Minneapolis Red Jackets The Minneapolis Marines were an early professional football team that existed from 1905 until 1928. The team did not play in 1918 or 1925 to 1926 and was later resurrected from 1929 to 1930 under the Minneapolis Red Jackets name. The Marines were ...

as player-coach, leading the team to a 1–9 record. In 1930, he was traded to the

Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets wo ...

. He played for Frankford and the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in 1931 and finished his career with the Bears in 1932.

Later years

In 1930, Joesting began a career, interrupted by leaves to play professional football, with the Minnesota Department of Motor Vehicles, becoming supervisor of deputy registrars in 1952. Joesting died of heart disease in 1963 at age 58 while driving a car near his home in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joesting, Herb 1905 births 1963 deaths American football fullbacks Player-coaches Chicago Bears players Frankford Yellow Jackets coaches Frankford Yellow Jackets players Minneapolis Red Jackets coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Little Falls, Minnesota People from Owatonna, Minnesota Coaches of American football from Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota