31 Facts About Joe Stydahar

Joe Stydahar was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

Joe Stydahar 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.

Joe Stydahar 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.

Joe Stydahar served as an assistant coach for the Rams and Bears.

At age eight, he moved with his family to Shinnston, West Virginia, where his father was a coal miner, and Joe Stydahar worked in the mines in his youth.

Joe Stydahar was recruited by both the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University.

Joe Stydahar 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.

At West Virginia, Joe 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.

Joe Stydahar played at the tackle position for the football team from 1933 to 1935 and developed a reputation as a "vicious tackler" and "bruising blocker".

In 1934, Joe 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 Joe Stydahar could muster was a selection on the Newspaper Enterprise Association's third-team.

Joe Stydahar proved to me in those two games that he was a tremendous player.

In basketball, Joe Stydahar was a three-year letterman at the center position.

Joe Stydahar set a single-game scoring record with 24 points against West Virginia Wesleyan in 1933.

Joe Stydahar 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.

Joe Stydahar was selected as a first-team All-Pro by Collyer's Eye magazine and a second-team All-Pro by the NFL and UPI.

Joe Stydahar was recognized as one of the best players in the NFL, receiving the highest point total of any player at any position in voting for the Associated Press All-Pro team.

Joe Stydahar played nine years as a tackle for the Bears from 1936 to 1942 and from 1945 to 1946, appearing in 84 NFL games.

Joe Stydahar continued to be acknowledged as one of the best players in the league through the 1930s.

Joe Stydahar missed the 1943 and 1944 NFL seasons due to military service during World War II.

Joe Stydahar served as a lieutenant and gunnery officer in the United States Navy on the USS Monterey light aircraft carrier.

In February 1947, Joe Stydahar was hired by the Los Angeles Rams as an assistant coach.

Joe Stydahar served three years as the Rams' line coach from 1947 to 1949.

Joe Stydahar began the 1952 season as the Rams' head coach.

In mid-November 1952, Joe Stydahar was hired by the Green Bay Packers.

Joe Stydahar served as a scout and part-time assistant coach for the balance of the 1952 season.

Joe Stydahar was credited with overhauling the Bears defensive line, helping to lead the 1963 Bears to the best scoring defense in the NFL and an NFL championship.

The Bears dropped to sixth place in the Western Division in 1964, and Joe Stydahar resigned from his position with the club at the end of the 1964 season in order devote his efforts to his work for a corrugated carton company.

Joe Stydahar received numerous honors for his football career, including the following:.

Joe Stydahar died of heart failure in 1977 at age 65 while on a business trip in Beckley, West Virginia.

Joe Stydahar was buried at the Shinnston Memorial Cemetery, located adjacent to "Stydahar Field", a sports complex named in his honor.