Joe Steffy

Joe Steffy

Date of birth	April 3, 1926
Place of birth	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Date of death
Place of death	Newburgh, New York
Career information
Position(s)	Offensive guard
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
College	Tennessee, Army
Career history
As player
1944	Tennessee
1945–1947	Army
Awards	1947 Outland Trophy
College Football Hall of Fame, 1987

Joseph Benton "Joe" Steffy, Jr. (April 3, 1926 – May 22, 2011) was an American football player. He went to fight in the Korean War and received the Bronze Medal and the Purple Heart. Steffy was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Early life

Steffy was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on April 3, 1926. He attended the University of Tennessee, where he played on the football team for one season in 1944. That year, the Volunteers went undefeated in the regular season, but lost to Southern California in the Rose Bowl. The following year, he enrolled at the United States Military Academy, where he played for the Army football team for three seasons as an offensive guard and as a center on defense. The Cadets went undefeated in 1945 and 1946. In 1947, Steffy was named team captain.

Military service

He graduated from USMA in 1949. In April 1950, he married Ann née Brown. As a lieutenant, Steffy served in the Korean War, where he suffered frostbite and was wounded in the foot by a grenade. Due to his injuries, he was evacuated from Hungnam to Japan, and later awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Later life

After the war, Steffy served on the Army football staff as the freshman team coach. He later owned a car dealership in Newburgh, New York. With his wife, who died in 2004, he had one son. Steffy died of a heart ailment on May 22, 2011 in Newburgh, New York at age of 85.

See also

• List of Korean War veterans who are recipients of the Bronze Star