Joseph Erwin Jacoby (born July 6, 1959) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
offensive tackle. He played for the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
(NFL), where he won three
Super Bowls during his tenure with the team.
College career
Jacoby started off as an offensive tackle for the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
from 1978 to 1980. He was a three-year letterman, and the team co-captain in his senior season. Jacoby was inducted into Louisville's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. Still, the team achieved limited success with Jacoby, posting a 16-16 overall record in his three seasons, with only one season with a winning record and no Bowl game appearances.
Professional career
After college, Jacoby went undrafted. He signed a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins in 1981, where he embarked on an enviable career—four
Super Bowl appearances, of which his team won three (
XVII in 1983,
XXII in 1988, and
XXVI in 1992), plus four consecutive
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
selections from 1983 to 1986.
Along with
Jeff Bostic,
Mark May,
George Starke and
Russ Grimm, Jacoby was a founding member of the Redskins' renowned "
Hogs" offensive line of the 1980s and early 1990s (deemed one of the best front fives of NFL history), which was a mainstay of the Redskins' glory years during the first
Joe Gibbs era.
Jacoby was the lead blocker on
John Riggins
Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played c ...
' famous touchdown run which ensured the Redskins'
Super Bowl XVII win over the Dolphins in 1983. In that game, the Redskins set a Super Bowl record for most rushing yards with 276. The Hogs helped the Redskins break that record five years later in
Super Bowl XXII, in which Washington trampled over the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
with 280 rushing yards en route to the second of the Redskins' three championships.
Personal
One year after the Redskins' third Super Bowl victory in 1992, Jacoby retired, after which he became the owner of an auto dealership in
Warrenton, Virginia
Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, of which it is the seat of government. The population was 9,611 at the 2010 census, up from 6,670 at the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2019 was 10,027. It is at the junction of U.S. R ...
.
Jacoby became an assistant football coach at
Shenandoah University in
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...
. He began as a part-time volunteer in 2008 and was hired as a full-time employee in 2009. In 2014, Jacoby was hired as the offensive line coach for
Concordia University Chicago.
Jacoby has a wife, Irene, and two daughters.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacoby, Joe
1959 births
Living people
American football offensive tackles
Concordia Cougars football coaches
Louisville Cardinals football players
Shenandoah Hornets football coaches
Washington Redskins players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky
Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky
Western High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni
Ed Block Courage Award recipients