Joseph Griffith Golding (March 26, 1921December 26, 1971) was a professional

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 ...

halfback/

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

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 played for the

Boston Yanks The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Any games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox baseball schedule in the Ameri ...

(1947–1948) and the New York Bulldogs/Yanks (1949–1951). His 1951 Bowman football card #115 relates the following: "In the service for 44 months. Won

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. Commissioned on the battlefield while an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

-man in Europe". Golding's brother, also named Joe Golding, was a longtime high school football coach who led Wichita Falls High to four state championships. The field at Wichita Falls' Memorial Stadium was named in his honor and he was posthumously elected to the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1988. His grand-nephew is current

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

basketball coach Joe Golding.

References

1921 births 1971 deaths People from Eufaula, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma American football defensive backs American football halfbacks Oklahoma Sooners football players Boston Yanks players New York Bulldogs players New York Yanks players Recipients of the Silver Star United States Army officers United States Army soldiers 20th-century American sportsmen {{Oklahoma-sport-stub