Joe Lillard

Joseph Johnny Lillard Jr. (June 15, 1905 – September 18, 1978) was an American football, baseball, and basketball player.

Afterwards, he moved in 1915, settling in Mason City, Iowa and moving in with relatives.

Lillard attended Mason City High School, graduating in 1927.

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

Although Lillard planned to attend the University of Minnesota, he changed his mind when Clarence Spears, the college's head football coach, left to go to the University of Oregon.

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

The following year, he appeared in two games for the varsity team.

Against Idaho, Lillard was responsible for all of Oregon's points in a 9–0 Ducks win.

Suspected of breaking college amateurism rules by playing semi-professional baseball for the Gilkerson Colored Giants, Lillard was briefly suspended by the PCC before Oregon's next game.

The suspected violation placed Lillard's collegiate eligibility in question.

While he did play in games, Lillard claimed that he received money not for playing, but for driving the team.

The decision was overturned; according to PCC rules, no protest was possible during the week prior to a game between PCC teams.

In the game against Washington, their second of the season, the Ducks claimed an upset victory, 13–0; Lillard had a touchdown and intercepted two passes.

Before Oregon's next game against USC, Lillard was ruled ineligible by the PCC as a result of playing with the Gilkerson baseball team.

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

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.

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

The following year, he signed with the Cardinals, but played less frequently toward the end of the season.

After the end of his college career, Lillard participated in a professional all-star game on November 26, 1931; he helped his team to a win with a 55-yard touchdown run.

In a second All-Star game, he recorded a 45-yard touchdown run for a Chicago-based team in a 20–6 win.

These performances attracted the attention of NFL teams.

From 1932 to 1933, he was a running back for the National Football League's (NFL) Chicago Cardinals.

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

For the 1932 NFL season, he joined the Chicago Cardinals.

In his first NFL game, against the Portsmouth Spartans, Lillard converted an extra point attempt that helped secure a 7–7 tie.

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

After wins against the Boston Braves and Providence Steamrollers (in a non-NFL contest), the number of plays in which Lillard was on the field for the Cardinals sharply declined.

In 1933, he was responsible for almost half of the Cardinals' points.

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

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

His performances during the season included a game against the Chicago Bears that featured a punt return for a touchdown.

However, he was ejected from two games that season for fighting, into which he was often baited by white opponents.

With the advent of an unofficial color line that excluded black players, Lillard did not play in the NFL after 1933.

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

Lillard was the last African-American, along with Ray Kemp, to play in the NFL until 1946, when Kenny Washington and Woody Strode joined the Los Angeles Rams.

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

After his athletic career, he became an appliance store employee and died in 1978.

Born in Tulsa, Indian Territory (later Oklahoma) to Joe Lillard and Annie Johnson, Lillard was the first of the couple's two children; Johnson also had a son from a previous marriage.

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

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