Joseph Alford Williams (March 3, 1896 – January 18, 1949) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. He 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 Lafayette before turning professional. He played for the

Canton Bulldogs The Canton Bulldogs were a professional American football team, based in Canton, Ohio. They played in the Ohio League from 1903 to 1906 and 1911 to 1919, and the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the National Football Lea ...

during the

1923 NFL season The 1923 NFL season was the fourth regular season of the National Football League (NFL). It was the second year after the name of the league was changed from the original "American Professional Football Association." For the first time, all of ...

and helped the team to the NFL championship. In 1925, Williams signed with the newly founded

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

where he went on to play for two seasons. Following the 1926 season, he was named second-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

by E.G. Brands of the

Collyer's Eye ''Collyer's Eye'' was a weekly sports journal published in Chicago from 1915 to 1929. In 1929, it merged with ''The Baseball World'' to become ''Collyer's Eye and The Baseball World''. It broke the story of the Black Sox Scandal a week after the ...

sports journal. In 1926, he appeared in the film '' The Quarterback''.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
1896 births 1949 deaths Players of American football from New York City American football guards Lafayette Leopards football players Canton Bulldogs players New York Giants players {{runningback-1890s-stub