Jimmy Jemail

{{Infobox person

| name = Jimmy Jemail

| image = Jimmy Jemail.jpg

| image_upright = .5

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1893|9|12}}

| birth_place = Byblos, Ottoman Empire

| death_date = {{death date and age|1978|7|26|1893|9|12}}

| death_place = New York, New York, U.S.

| nationality = American

| other_names =

| occupation = Writer-photographer

| years_active = 1921–1973

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| module =

{{Infobox NFL biography

| embed = yes

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 6

| weight_lb = 165

| position = Quarterback, halfback

| high_school = Rogers
(Newport, Rhode Island)

| college = Brown, Navy

| pastteams = * New York Brickley Giants ({{NFL Year|1921}})

| statlabel1 = Games started

| statvalue1 = 1

| statlabel2 = Games played

| statvalue2 = 1

| pfr = JemaJi20

}}

Manuel James Jemail (September 12, 1893 – July 26, 1978) was a writer-photographer for The Daily News, a veteran of the United States Navy, and an American football player.{{cite news |title=Jimmy Jemail ends career on newspaper |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newport-mercury-jimmy-jemail-ends-career/131486556/ |access-date=9 September 2023 |work=Newport Mercury |date=19 January 1973 |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}

Life

Born in Byblos, Lebanon,{{Cite news |date=1973-01-07 |title=Jimmy Jemail of News Retires as Questioner |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/07/archives/jimmy-jemail-of-news-retires-as-questioner.html |access-date=2023-09-09 |issn=0362-4331}} Jemail moved with his family to Newport, Rhode Island, when he was five years old.{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Thomas |date=1978-07-27 |title=Jimmy Jemail Dies at 85–He Knew All the Questions |pages=117 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-jimmy-jemail-dies-at-85he-kn/131485538/ |access-date=2023-09-09 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |author1=Philip Kae |title=Sketches |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/caravan-sketches/131486571/ |access-date=9 September 2023 |work=Caravan |date=8 October 1953 |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}

He was the first American of Lebanese descent to be accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy, where he played football. After being sidelined by an injury his first year, he transferred to Brown University where he started as a quarterback and halfback and played in the 1916 Rose Bowl.

He played for the New York Brickley Giants in 1921.{{Cite news |date=1921-11-12 |title=Brooklyn Giants Pro Football Team To Play |pages=8 |work=The Brooklyn Standard Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-brooklyn-giants-pro-f/131485475/ |access-date=2023-09-09 |via=Newspapers.com}} He is distinguished as being the first Lebanese to play in the National Football League (NFL).{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/friv/birthplaces.cgi?country=Lebanon|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com|title=List of all NFL Players Born in Lebanon}}

Jemail served in World War I. After leaving the Navy, he found work as a security guard for The Daily News. He was made inquiring photographer just thirty minutes after being hired as a security guard, when the paper's editor "decided that any former Navy officer and Ivy League football player who would take an $8 a week job should also make a hard-nosed newsman".

Jemail started working for Sports Illustrated when it was founded in 1954. He had a weekly full page feature titled Jimmy Jemail's Hotbox where he would ask a sports question to people from both inside and outside the sporting world.{{Cite news |last=Greene |first=Bob |date=1986-08-29 |title=Baseball unions? Not in the '50s |pages=21 |work=The Jackson Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-jackson-sun-baseball-unions-not-in/132443993/ |access-date=2023-09-26 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Jemail worked for The Daily News as a writer-photographer for 52 years and would interview "presidents, premiers, royalty, the rich, the famous, the ordinary and the bums".{{Cite news |date=1978-07-28 |title=Jimmy Jemail for a Half-Century 'Inquiring Fotographer' at News |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/28/archives/jimmy-jemail-for-a-half-century-inquiring-fotographer-at-news.html |access-date=2023-09-09 |issn=0362-4331}} In 1962, he met President John F. Kennedy who told him "I've followed your column for years."{{Cite news |date=1978-07-28 |title=Jimmy Jemail, 85, Original 'Inquiring Fotographer' for News |pages=43 |work=Newsday (Suffolk Edition) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition-jimmy-jemail/131485725/ |access-date=2023-09-09 |via=Newspapers.com}} President Richard Nixon called Jemail's column one of the most widely read in New York City. Jemail retired from The Daily News in 1973.