Joe Magliolo
{{Short description|American football player (1922–2008)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox college football player
| school=Texas Longhorns
| pastschools = Texas (1940–1942; 1946–1948)
| currentnumber = 61, 62
| class = 1948
| major = Chemical Engineering
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 0
| weight_lbs = 210
| birth_date = October 17, 1922
| birth_place = Galveston, Texas, U.S.
| death_date = July 31, 2008
| death_place = Houston, Texas, U.S.
| highschool = Ball
| highlights =
| bowlgames=Cotton Bowl (1943, 1944)
Sugar Bowl (1948)
}}
Joseph Magliolo Jr. (October 17, 1922 - July 31, 2008) was an American college and professional football player. He was a two-time All-American honorable mention, once as a "blocking back" and once as a guard, who played in Texas' first two bowl games and then played a season for the New York Yankees of the AAFC.
Early life
Magliolo was born in Galveston in 1922, the son of Italian immigrants. There he played football and tennis at Ball High School.{{cite news|last1=Snyder|first1=Mike|title=Obi: Joseph Magliolo, chemical engineer, tennis fan|url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-deaths/article/Obi-Joseph-Magliolo-chemical-engineer-tennis-1612691.php|accessdate=27 February 2015|work=Houston Chronicle|date=13 August 2008}}{{cite news|title=Ball High Netters Play at Houston San Jacinto Squad|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/galveston/galveston-daily-news/1938/02-18/page-8|accessdate=1 March 2015|work=Galveston Daily News|date=18 February 1938}}
College football
Magliolo started school at Texas in 1939 and from 1940 to 1942 he came out for spring football practice, but it wasn't until the fall of 1942, when World War II created a shortage of players, that he tried out for the varsity. That season, despite being an unheralded high school player whose parents didn't want him to play, Magliolo became Coach Dana X. Bible's choice for starting quarterback, or "blocking back", at the beginning of the season.{{cite news|title=Men for Grid Team|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/texas/paris/paris-news/1943/06-13/|accessdate=1 March 2015|work=Paris News|date=13 June 1943}}{{cite news|title=Texas Soph might be Texas Starter|url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299775/m1/6/zoom/|accessdate=1 March 2015|work=The Mexia Weekly Herald|date=11 September 1942}}{{cite news|last1=Grayson|first1=Harry|title=Collins, Magliolo Pave Way For Texas Speedmen; Bible Develops Blockers And Steers Roll Onward|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/74866499/|accessdate=2 March 2015|work=Mount Carmel Item|date=14 November 1942}} At the time, Texas was utilizing the single-wing formation in which the quarterback didn't pass or control the ball as much as the quarterback does in modern football, and was often called the "blocking back." The work of taking snaps and throwing the ball was primarily handled by the fullback, who in 1942 was Roy McKay. Later in the season, when the Longhorns began playing against pass-oriented offenses in the Southwest Conference, William Harold "Spot" Collins became the starter because he was seen as the better pass defender and players went both ways at the time. Still, with platoon football, Magliolo saw considerable playing time right through to the 1943 Cotton Bowl.{{cite news|last1=Ratliff|first1=Harold|title=Rigid Texas Line Beats Ga. Tech|url=http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer%201943/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer%201943%20-%200053.pdf|accessdate=2 March 2015|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=2 January 1943}} Texas went 9-2 and won the Southwest Conference championship to finish ranked #11 in the country. They played in, and won, the school's first ever bowl game with a 14–7 win over Georgia Tech in the 1943 Cotton Bowl.
In 1943, Magliolo was named one of three team captains for the Longhorns,{{cite news|title=Bible Names Captains For Texas Longhorns|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/7900496/|accessdate=2 March 2015|work=Lubbock Morning Avalanche|date=21 September 1943}} and the starting quarterback.{{cite news|last1=Olsne|first1=Homer|title=Longhorns Run Wild to Overwhelm Rice Owls 58-0|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/21936203/|accessdate=2 March 2015|work=The Brownsville Herald|date=24 October 1943}} That season, the Longhorns went 7–1–1, posted the school's first ever repeat conference championship, finished ranked #14 and tied Randolph Field in the 1944 Cotton Bowl. That season, he was an all-conference selection as a back and an All-American honorable mention.{{cite news|title=Texas Lands Three Backs on All-Southwest|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/17272463/|accessdate=5 March 2015|work=The Paris News|date=5 December 1943}}
After leaving school to serve in the Navy for two years, where he was an executive officer on a PT boat in the Philippines during World War II, Magliolo returned to Texas in 1946. He was considered the team's best blocking and defensive back, but four games into the season, he broke his arm in the Oklahoma game and missed the end of the season.{{cite news|title=X-Ray to Determine If Magliolo Plays|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/12254398/|accessdate=5 March 2015|work=El Paso Herald Post|date=12 November 1946}} Despite the short season for him, he made Wirt Gammon's All-American Blockers team that year.{{cite web|last1=McCarty|first1=Bernie|title=The All-America Blockers|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/CFHSN/CFHSNv08/CFHSNv08n2e.pdf|accessdate=5 March 2015}}
In 1947, the Longhorns switched to the T-formation which did not need a blocking back, and Magliolo was moved to left guard.{{cite news|last1=Grayson|first1=Harry|title=Grayson's Scoreboard|url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth133026/m1/4/zoom/|accessdate=3 March 2015|work=Breckenridge American|date=16 December 1947}} Despite the change in position, he was 3rd Team All-Southwest Conference and an honorable mention All-American as the Longhorns went 10–1. They finished ranked #5 and beat Alabama in the 1948 Sugar Bowl.{{cite news|last1=Ratliff|first1=Harold V.|title=SMU AND TEXAS DOMINATE ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/43425943/|accessdate=3 March 2015|work=The Eagle|date=1 December 1947}}{{cite news|title=The 1947 AP All-American|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/6289660/|accessdate=4 March 2015|work=Pampa Daily News|date=3 December 1947}}{{cite news|title=Texas Dominate All-Southwest Lineups, Tom Landry Places On Second List|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/20990801/|accessdate=4 March 2015|work=The Brownsville Herald|date=1 December 1947}}
During his time on the team, the Longhorns went 34–6–1. In 1988, he was inducted into the University of Texas Hall of Honor.{{cite web|title=Men's Hall of Honor - Joe Magliano|url=http://www.texassports.com/aa.aspx?hid=214|website=texassports.com|accessdate=4 March 2015}}
Pro football
Magliolo was first drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in the 17th round of the 1944 NFL draft, but he never signed with them and instead went off to war. He was then drafted by the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference in the 15th round of the 1948 AAFC Draft and played one season for them that year. He played defensive back, recording one interception in 13 games. Magliolo spent much of the 1948 season on the sideline due to injuries, and, in July 1949, he informed the team that he was retiring from professional football to pursue a business career near Galveston, Texas.{{Cite news|title=Pro Team Loses Back|newspaper=The Kingsport News|date=July 9, 1949|page=3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3223508/pro_team_loses_back/}}
Later life
Magliolo earned a chemical engineering degree from Texas in 1948 and a master's degree in 1949. In 1950, he went to work for Monsanto where he spent 27 years as a chemical engineer. In 1980, he purchased the Bay Area Racquet Club near the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake, Texas and became an advocate for local tennis.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Chicago Cardinals 1944 draft navbox}}
{{Texas Longhorns quarterback navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maglilo, Joe}}
Category:American football offensive linemen
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:New York Yankees (AAFC) players