Joseph Lee Stydahar (March 17, 1912 – March 23, 1977) nicknamed "Jumbo Joe", was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
A native of Shinnston, West Virginia, Stydahar grew up in West Virginia and played college football and basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1936 NFL Draft and played nine seasons as a tackle for the Bears from 1936 to 1942 and 1945 to 1946. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro five consecutive years from 1936 to 1940 and helped the Bears win NFL championships in 1940, 1942, and 1946 NFL Championship Games.
After his playing career ended, Stydahar was the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams during the 1950 and 1951 seasons and the Chicago Cardinals during the 1953 and 1954 seasons. His 1950 and 1951 Rams teams both advanced to the NFL Championship Game, and the 1951 team won the championship. He also served as an assistant coach for the Rams (1947–1949) and Bears (1963–1965).
Early years
Stydahar was born in 1912 in Kaylor, Pennsylvania, the son of Peter P. Stydahar (1877-1970) and Lucille M. Stydahar (1884-1941). At age eight, he moved with his family to Shinnston, West Virginia, where his father was a coal miner, and Stydahar also worked in the mines in his youth. At Shinnston High School, he was regarded as "the greatest schoolboy football and basketball player ever turned out in West Virginia". Currently, the football/track/soccer complex in Shinnston, WV is named "Stydahar Field", home of the Lincoln High School Cougars.
West Virginia University
Stydahar was recruited by both the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University. He initially went to Pittsburgh in the fall of 1931 and participated in the football team's preliminary practices, but then showed up at West Virginia seeking to enroll. According to one account, he returned home after tryouts at Pittsburgh and was taken in a car to Morgantown where he was hidden in a fraternity house by West Virginia football coach Greasy Neale "until Pitt gave up looking for him."
At West Virginia, Stydahar was six feet, four inches, weighed 220 pounds, possessed "one of the largest pairs of hands in the business", and played both basketball and football. He played at the tackle position for the football team from 1933 to 1935 and developed a reputation as a "vicious tackler" and "bruising blocker". As a junior in 1934, he blocked five punts and returned one of the blocks 17 yards for a touchdown. As a senior in 1935, he was responsible for stopping Pittsburgh's running game, holding the Panthers to one first down in the second half.
During Stydahar's three years with the West Virginia football team, the Mountaineers compiled records of and 3-5-3, 6–4, and 3-4-2, and lost three years in a row against Pittsburgh by a combined score of 72 to 12. Sports writer Harry Grayson opined that the team's poor record and the small crowds to which it played impaired Stydahar's chances of being selected to All-America teams. In 1934, Stydahar was ignored by the major All-America selectors, though he reportedly received recognition on an All-American team selected by the players on the NFL's New York Giants. In 1935, the best Stydahar could muster was a selection on the Newspaper Enterprise Association's third-team.
Those who saw Stydahar play in college rated him among the best and was selected to play in both the East–West Shrine Game and the Chicago College All-Star Game in 1936. Pittsburgh coach Jock Sutherland, despite having been spurned by Stydahar in 1931, rated Stydahar as the best tackle he saw during the 1935 season and added: "I doubt that there is a more formidable tackle in the country." Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger said: "I played in two all-star games with him and thought he was the best tackle by far of that collegiate group. He proved to me in those two games that he was a tremendous player."
In basketball, Stydahar was a three-year letterman at the center position. He set a single-game scoring record with 24 points against West Virginia Wesleyan in 1933.
Professional football player
While overlooked by All-America selectors, Stydahar was not overlooked in the 1936 NFL Draft. He was selected by George Halas' Chicago Bears in the first round with the sixth overall pick, becoming the first player drafted by the Bears in the first NFL draft and the first lineman to be selected in the first round.