Joseph Courtney (American football)
 Courtney pictured in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1909 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 23, 1884 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | June 2, 1922 (aged 37) Westport, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1906 | Holy Cross |
| 1907 | Villanova |
| 1908 | Lafayette |
| Position(s) | Halfback, end |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1909 | Boys HS (NY) |
| 1911 | Boston College |
| 1912–1914 | Dartmouth (assistant) |
| 1915 | Norwich |
| 1919 | Montclair HS (NJ) |
| 1921 | Orange A. A. |
| Baseball | |
| 1911 | Stone School |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 0–15 (college football) |
Joseph Patrick Courtney (November 23, 1884 – June 2, 1922) was an American football player, coach, and official. He served as the head football coach at Boston College in 1911 and Norwich University in 1915, compiling a career college football coaching record of 0–15.
Biography
[edit]A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Courtney played football for the College of the Holy Cross, Villanova University, and Lafayette College.[1][2][3] His cousin, Joseph A. Courtney, was also a noted athlete at the same time as Courtney and was the captain of the Georgetown baseball team at the time of his death in 1909.[4]
Courtney began his coaching career in 1909 at the Boys High School in Brooklyn.[4] He later coached at Boston College, the University of New Hampshire, Stone School, Dartmouth College, Norwich University, Montclair High School, and the Orange A. A. and was a football and basketball official for high school and college football games.[5][2][6][7][8][9]
During World War I, Courtney served with the 4th United States Aero Squadron in France and single-handedly took down two enemy aircraft. He was wounded in action. After the war, Courtney was an Internal Revenue Service agent attached to the real estate tax division in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1919 he moved to Bloomfield, New Jersey, where his mother and sister lived.[10][11]
On June 2, 1922, a train engineer reported that he believed he had passed over a body on the tracks near the Westport Station in Westport, Connecticut. A railroad police officer was dispatched to Westport, where he discovered Courtney's badly mutilated body. The night prior, Coutrney had been seen arguing with a group of foreigners. The undertaker found two small puncture marks behind Courtney's left ear, however the death was ruled an accident.[10][11] Courtney was buried at St. John's Cemetery in Worcester.[12]
Head coaching record
[edit]College football
[edit]| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston College (Independent) (1911) | |||||||||
| 1911 | Boston College | 0–7 | |||||||
| Boston College: | 0–7 | ||||||||
| Norwich Cadets (Independent) (1915) | |||||||||
| 1915 | Norwich | 0–8 | |||||||
| Norwich: | 0–8 | ||||||||
| Total: | 0–15 | ||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Punts and Passes". The Washington Herald. November 3, 1907. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ a b "Coach Courtney". Norwich University Record. September 11, 1915. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ Biographical Catalogue of Lafayette College, 1832-1912. Chemical Publishing Company. 1913. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
- ^ a b "Successfully Coaching Teams". The North Adams Transcript. October 23, 1909. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ "Good Football To-morrow". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. November 12, 1909. p. 26. Retrieved November 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ "Football At Norwich". Swanton Courier. Swanton, Vermont. September 30, 1915. p. 7. Retrieved November 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Stone Expects A Good Nine". The Boston Globe. March 15, 1911.
- ^ "High School Wins". The Montclair Times. December 6, 1919. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ Gallagher, Joe (September 17, 1921). "Joe's Stuff". The Courrier-News. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ a b "Probe Death of Courtney". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. June 3, 1922. p. 1. Retrieved November 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ a b "Probe Death of Courtney (continued)". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. June 3, 1922. p. 4. Retrieved November 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ "Military Funeral For Capt Courtney". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. June 5, 1922. p. 6. Retrieved November 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
External links
[edit]- 1884 births
- 1922 deaths
- American football ends
- American football halfbacks
- Basketball referees in the United States
- College football officials
- Boston College Eagles football coaches
- Holy Cross Crusaders football players
- Norwich Cadets football coaches
- Lafayette Leopards football players
- Villanova Wildcats football players
- High school baseball coaches in the United States
- High school football coaches in New Jersey
- High school football coaches in New York (state)
- Internal Revenue Service people
- United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I
- Sportspeople from Bloomfield, New Jersey
- Players of American football from Essex County, New Jersey
- Coaches of American football from Massachusetts
- Players of American football from Worcester, Massachusetts
- Accidental deaths in Connecticut
- Military personnel from New Jersey