Joseph Daniell Hoague was a professional American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

, and later the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Steagles

Steagles

The Steagles is the popular nickname for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, during the 1943 season...

, and the Boston Yanks

Boston Yanks

The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox schedule were held at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts...

. Prior to joining the NFL, Hoague played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Colgate University

Colgate University

Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...

.

Early career

Hoague began his athletic career while attending the The Governor's Academy

The Governor's Academy

The Governor's Academy is an independent school located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States ; north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 385 students in grades nine through twelve, 70% of whom are boarders...

, the oldest boarding school

Boarding school

A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. There he played five varsity sports serving as captain of the baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 team his senior year. In his junior year, Joe played football, hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, and baseball; as a senior, he competed in football, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, winter track

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, and baseball. While at the school he was also awarded the Academy’s most honored prize, the Morse Flag, for earning the highest respect of the faculty.

College

Joe graduated in 1937 and so afterwards attended Colgate University. At Colgate, he was a three-year letterman and honorable All-American. He was inducted into the Colgate University Hall of Honor in 1990.

Pro football

After college Joe played in two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However he was later called up to fight in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He was drafted into the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 and was out of football until 1946, when he played one last season with the Boston Yanks. However before he left for the Navy, Steagles coach Walt Kiesling

Walt Kiesling

Walter Andrew Kiesling was an American football player and coach.-Playing career:A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Kiesling played both offensive and defensive line at the University of St. Thomas...

 placed Joe in the line-up once last time in a game against the Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

.

Coaching career

In 1980, Joe was named to the National High School Association Hall of Fame for his dedication to coaching football at Melrose High School in Melrose, Massachusetts

Melrose, Massachusetts

-Government:Robert J. Dolan is the mayor. Melrose is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by Paul Brodeur . Katherine Clark is the state senator for wards 1 through 5 and Thomas McGee is the state senator for wards 6 and 7. Melrose is part of the seventh Congressional...

. Hoague achieved a combined record of 200 victories as a high school football coach at Melrose, Natick

Natick High School

Natick High School is a public high school serving students in grades 9-12 in Natick, Massachusetts. The school is located on the banks of Lake Cochituate. It enrolled 1189 students as of the 2005-06 school year. Rose Bertucci is currently the interim principal after the retirement of former...

 and Taunton High School

Taunton High School

Taunton High School located within a large, three-floor, interconnected, multi-block complex in the eastern section of the city of Taunton, Massachusetts. It is a five-year urban public high school with an estimated average student enrollment of 3,000...

s. He also received recognition by his induction into the Massachusetts Football Coaches Hall of Fame.