Alexander, Joseph
Football
b. April 1, 1898, Silver Creek, NY
d. Sept. 12, 1975
For a man who chose a healing profession, Alexander was evidently a very rough football player. He was with the New York Giants when they faced the barnstorming Chicago Bears and halfback Red Grange at the Polo Grounds on Dec. 6, 1925. The Chicago Tribune reported, "Joe Alexander, the Giants' center, stopped a line play and squatted on the ground with Grange in his lap, trying to twist his head off to see what kind of sawdust he's stuffed with. The officials told Alexander he oughtn't to do that but didn't charge him anything for it."
Alexander played five varsity seasons at Syracuse University and was an All-American guard in 1918 and 1919. Walter Camp cited Alexander and Swede Youngstrom of Dartmouth as "the greatest pair of defensive guards that have ever been seen on the gridiron."
After receiving his medical degree from Syracuse in 1921, Alexander played two seasons of pro football, with the Rochester Jeffersons and Milwaukee Badgers, then began practicing medicine in New York City. He was the first player to sign with the Giants when the team was organized in 1925. He was player-coach in 1926, when the Giants had an 8-4-0 record, and he was a starter on the 1927 team that won all 11 of its games and the National Football League championship.
After that season, Alexander returned to medical practice and later helped found one of New York City's first tuberculosis clinics.