John Hubbard Joss (March 18, 1902 – March 22, 1955) 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, lawyer, and government official.

Early years

Joss was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

in 1902. He attended the

Taft School The Taft School is a private coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It enrolls approximately 600 students in grades 9–12. Overview History The school was founded in 1890 as Mr. Taft's School (renamed t ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

before enrolling at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

Athletic career

He played college football at the tackle position for the

Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Yale's football program, founded in 1872, is one of the oldest in the world. Since ...

team. He was described as "the backbone of the rush line on defense", "unusually agile for his size", and "one of the outstanding tackles." He was selected in February 1925 as the captain of the 1925 Yale Bulldogs football team. He was also selected by Lawrence Perry as a first-team player on the 1924 All-American college football team, and by ''

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

'' magazine and the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American conservative news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) online-only publisher of political and economic opinion pieces, as we ...

'' as a first-team player on the 1925 All-American college football team.

Later years

Joss moved to

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, around 1928 to study at the University of Arizona College of Law, and began to gain prominence as at state and regional golf events. He moved to Mexico City in the early 1930s and competed for the amateur golf championship of Mexico in 1931. Joss served as the head coach of the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

football team in 1932. Joss was married in 1931 to Eleanor Taylor. Joss received law degrees from the University of Arizona and George Washington University. He practiced law and served for a time as assistant general counsel of the Firestone Rubber Company. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he worked for the

Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money ( price con ...

as chief counsel for rationing enforcement. He also represented the Economic Warfare Board in British East Africa. After the war, he became chief counsel for the War Asset Administration. He joined the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

upon it formation in 1949. He was appointed by

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

to the Renegotiations Board and served as its chairman. He died in 1955 at his home in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joss, Johnny 1902 births 1955 deaths American football tackles Yale Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Indianapolis Yale College alumni Taft School alumni