31 Facts About Joe Lillard

Joe Lillard received the nickname "The Midnight Express" by the media.

An orphan from an early age, Joe Lillard attended Mason City High School before moving to the University of Oregon.

Joe Lillard played twice for the university's football team in 1931 before he was ruled ineligible by the Pacific Coast Conference for playing semi-professional baseball.

Joe Lillard was a leading contributor for the Cardinals in 1933, receiving praise from the Chicago Defender.

Joe Lillard remained active in football, playing for minor league and semi-professional teams, including the New York Brown Bombers, with whom he spent three seasons.

Joe Lillard was a pitcher in Negro league baseball for five seasons from 1932 to 1944, and a guard in basketball for the future Harlem Globetrotters.

Joe Lillard took up baseball at the age of six; his other childhood hobbies included singing and tap dancing.

Joe Lillard's mother died when Lillard was nine, and his father had left about six years before that time.

In basketball and football, Joe Lillard won all-state honors, and claimed several Iowa track titles.

Joe Lillard decided to attend Oregon, and played for the school's freshman football team in 1930.

Spears estimated that Joe Lillard had provided half of his team's production on offense, and USC defeated Oregon by 53 points in the game after the ruling.

Joe Lillard dropped out of the university after the PCC's decision, becoming a professional football player and playing for various All-Star teams that traveled across the United States.

One week later, the Cardinals tied the eventual NFL champion Chicago Bears; Joe Lillard's performance was praised in the Chicago Defender, which called him "the whole show".

Jack Chevigny, the Cardinals' coach, indicated that Joe Lillard had occasionally failed to attend practice, and had arrived late at other times.

The lack of playing time for Joe Lillard was attributed to internal disputes caused by "lackluster effort and a prideful attitude"; the Chicago Defender offered a different explanation, accusing Chevigny of racism towards Joe Lillard.

Joe Lillard ended the season with 121 rushing yards in 52 attempts, and nine successful passes in 28 attempts.

Joe Lillard was primarily a backup in 1933, although he was one of the Cardinals' leading players when he received playing time.

Joe Lillard was ejected from the game, having been involved in a dispute with Pirates player Tony Holm.

Joe Lillard played a key role in the Cardinals' October 15,1933 game against the Bears.

In 1933, the Cardinals posted 52 points in 11 games; Joe Lillard scored 19 himself and had two touchdown passes.

Joe Lillard received racial abuse from fans; author Alan Howard Levy wrote that spectators in Portsmouth, Ohio regularly taunted him when the Cardinals played there.

Joe Lillard had played for a Chicago team coached by Pollard before entering the NFL, and decided to join the Brown Bombers.

Joe Lillard stayed with the Brown Bombers through the 1937 season; the team went out of business in 1938.

In later years, Joe Lillard played for various minor league sides; In 1938, he joined the American Association's Clifton Wessingtons, playing one season for the club and earning second-team AA all-star honors.

Joe Lillard started twice in 1934, and did not record a decision on either occasion.

Joe Lillard is credited with six at bats for the Cincinnati Tigers in 1937, though he was listed on the team's pitching staff for several exhibition games.

In 1949 and 1950, Joe Lillard played for El Aguila de Veracruz of the Mexican League.

Joe Lillard spent several years on the Savoy Big Five basketball team as a guard.

Joe Lillard had a stroke on September 18,1978, and was afflicted with agnosia as a result; he died in New York City's Bellevue Hospital Center.

Joe Lillard was the 12th black player in the history of the NFL.

Joe Lillard was the lone African-American playing in the NFL in 1932 and one of two in 1933; the other was Ray Kemp, a tackle with the Pirates.