Luke A. Johnsos (Football, Baseball, Basketball, 1926-28)
Johnsos, a native of Chicago, came to Northwestern as a student in 1925. He joined the football squad as an end and played on the 1926, 1927, and 1928 squads. His stellar play earned him a spot on the prestigious Eastern All-Star football team that faced the Western All-Stars in San Francisco in 1927.
He was a power-hitting infielder with the baseball team during the 1927 and 1928 seasons. The 1928 season was especially memorable for him as the led the Big Ten in home runs (he hit 9 in 12 games) and served as team captain.
Johnsos was a member of the 1927 and 1928 basketball teams. In 1928 he was the only NU athlete to receive letters in three different sports.
As a student, Johnsos was active in campus affairs, serving as a member of the NU Athletic Association Executive Board in 1929 as well as maintaining membership in Beta Theta Pi and Delta Sigma Pi fraternities.
After graduation from Northwestern in 1930, Johnsos joined the Chicago Bears, for whom he played from 1929 to 1937. Twice selected to all-league team in the early1930s, Johnsos was a favorite target of Bear quarterbacks, leading the team in receiving in 1932 (24 catches for 321 yards and two touchdowns) and 1935 (19 catches for 298 yards and four touchdowns).
Bears' head coach George Halas asked Johnsos to join his staff as a player-coach in 1935. After retiring as a player, Johnsos remained with the Bears as a coach, serving the team off and on until 1968. When Halas left the Bears to fulfill his wartime duties in 1942, he turned over the head coaching duties to his top three assistant coaches: Johnsos, Heartly "Hunk" Anderson and Paddy Driscoll. Together, the three led the Bears to back-to-back division titles in 1942 and 1943.
Johnsos passed away in 1984.
