Joseph Alexander, Captain of Syracuse football team in a 14-0 defeat of Rutgers, 1919

Sportsmanship, fellowship, and decency

The child of Russian immigrants, Joseph Alexander (1898-1975) was a football player who first earned acclaim in college as a three-time all-American playing left guard for Syracuse. After college he earned a medical degree and continued to play football, for the Rochester Jeffersons beginning in 1921. The American Professional Football Association was renamed the National Football League in 1922 and expanded in 1925. Alexander was the first player drafted by one of the new teams, the New York Giants, for whom he played as a guard through 1927, their championship year. One of the few Giants players in his era to work a job during his football career, Alexander earned the nickname "Doc" from his teammates. He said that while he encountered some antisemitism in his football career, "football taught me sportsmanship, fellowship, and decency."