The late Washington College Hall of Famer, Howard “Buck” Griffin, said that Joe Phillips was one of the toughest men ever to play tackle for Washington College football teams of his era. He further stated that Joe was so “hard-nosed” that he consistently headed the list of linemen making the most tackles on defense and opening holes for running backs on offense.
In Joe’s days on campus, lacrosse became the main spring sport, since baseball was being dropped temporarily from the athletic program. Joe was quick to respond, and, in 1929, took over the “point position” on Washington College’s first lacrosse team. Although individual offensive and defensive records from those days were not kept, it comes on good authority that Joe gave an excellent account of himself in every game he played.
Besides athletics, Joe was active in compus affairs and organizations. He was a member of the Adelphia Literary Society, the Varsity Club, and the Phi Sigma Phi fraternity.
For thirty years, Joe was a devoted employee of the Delmarva Power and Light Company and was stationed in the electrical department located in Vienna, Maryland.
Washington College considers it an honor to induct Joseph Edwin Phillips into the Washington College Athletic Hall of Fame on this date of Saturday, October 2, 1993.
