Inductees

Athlete Bio

---

Joseph Mullaney

Class of 1922

Joe was a devoted athlete, hard competitor, and spirited leader who captained his three sports. He played for the pure love of sport and competition, even coaching his own baseball and track teams.

As quarterback and safety on the football team, he called his own plays and threw that rugby style football when the time was right. His greatest performance came against Maynard in 1921 when he scored seven touchdowns and kicked four extra points - a record 46 points which may never be equalled.

He recalls a baseball game in 1922 against Lynn Classical in which his pitcher, Elmer Duggan, threw 27 strikeouts and lost the game! It turns out Duggan was a bit on the wild side, giving up 18 walks and 7 hit batsmen. Joe's errant throw to first in the last of the tenth inning allowed the winning run to score. Joe says the secret to finding the time and energy to play baseball and track at the same time is not to practice much. He and his teammates just suited up and went into battle.

After Concord High Joe entered the Choate School where he continued to play football and baseball. He recalls batting 482 in his second year at Choate, the very same average he hit in his freshman year at Lehigh University. He also played quarterback on the football team, but decided to hang up the cleats after being injured himself in the same game that a friend and teammate sustained a broken back and died.

Joe spent 40 years at Paine Furniture Company in Boston before retiring to the position of Executive Director of the Concord Chamber of Commerce. He lives in Concord with his wife Elizabeth and enjoys following the activities of his fifteen grandchildren, including his namesake, Mark's son, who quarterbacked his Wellesley High football team to the Division 2 Superbowl title last fall.