Columbus East graduate and DePauw senior Josh Major runs after catching a pass in the Monon Bell Game at Wabash.
Photo courtesy of DePauw athletics
Nearly 90 years ago, Chester C. “Chet” Elson was a DePauw football player who embodied the traits of sportsmanship, competitiveness and a desire to succeed.
Since 1979, DePauw has awarded the Chester C. Elson Tiger of the Year award to a football player who demonstrated those traits. This year, the award went to a pair of DePauw players, one of which was Columbus East graduate Josh Major.
“I definitely think sportsmanship, competitiveness and a desire to succeed are not just things I try to have in football, but in life,” Major said. “My parents instilled that in me at a young age, and then going through the East program and now at DePauw, I’ve tried to grow those. I think those three traits are important in any walks of life.”
Major shared the award with fellow senior Liam Pooler.
“It was definitely a surprise to me,” Major said. “I didn’t have my sights set on it or anything like that. It was a tremendous honor to be awarded. There are a lot of deserving guys on the team.”
Major, who quarterbacked East to a state runner-up finish in 2016 and a Class 5A state title in 2017, moved to slot receiver at DePauw. This season, he finished second on team with 42 catches and had 494 yards and two touchdowns receiving.
In a win against Hiram, Major dusted off his right arm and threw a 29-yard touchdown pass on a reverse.
“It was something we worked on throughout the course of the year,” Major said. “I tried to throw as much as I could in practice so I’d be ready to do it in a game.”
The Tigers went 9-3 and won the North Coast Athletic Conference. They beat Rose-Hulman in a first-round Division III playoff game before falling at Wisconsin-Whitewater in the second round.
“We made a lot of history as a team,” Major said. “It was a great season overall. It was just a great way to end my football career, and I was happy and excited to be a part of that great team this year.”
Because COVID played havoc with last year’s schedules, NCAA athletes were granted an extra year of eligibility. But Major plans to graduate in May with a degree in biology and then go to optometry school next fall. He is going through the interview process with four optometry schools — Indiana University, Southern College in Memphis, Midwestern University in Chicago and Ferris State in Michigan
“I’m kind of ready to move on and start the next chapter of my life,” Major said. “It was definitely in interesting four years at DePauw. We kind of got hit with COVID in the middle of it, and that took out a big chunk of it, but you just have to control what you can control, and I was able to come back and end my career in a really positive way.”
