Joseph C. Winkler (March 9, 1922 – March 21, 2001) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

who played one season with the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to ...

of 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

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 ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

Early life

Winkler played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Catholic Central High School in

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. Located along Lake Michigan, it is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the Li ...

as a fullback. He earned Indiana Catholic all-state and Chicago Area All-Catholic team honors. He was also a two-time winner of the team’s Outstanding Player award. Winkler graduated in 1941. He was inducted into the Hammond Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

College career

Winkler played for

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

as a center and graduated in 1945.

Professional career

Winkler was selected by the Cleveland Rams with the 114th pick in the 1945 NFL Draft and played in eight games for the team during the 1945 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkler, Joe 1922 births 2001 deaths American football centers Purdue Boilermakers football players Cleveland Rams players Players of American football from Hammond, Indiana People from Lansing, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois