Clemson’s Joel Wells
It has been nearly 53 years since Dreher claimed its first state championship in football. One of the members of that undefeated Blue Devil squad was Joel Wells.
As a junior on the 1951 championship team, Wells was forced to play defense after the offense was filled with future Division I players, offered by such programs as Clemson and the University of South Carolina. It wasn’t until his senior year that Wells moved to running back, a move that would pay off in college.
At the time, he was being recruited by Clemson, South Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia
Tech. However, the Clemson Tigers had an advantage. Wells’s older brother, Jimmy, attended Clemson and played for coach Frank Howard. Wells decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps.
From 1954-1956, Wells was the Tigers’ leading rusher in Howard’s split-T offense, which also included future N.F.L. player Joe Pagliei. Quarterback Don King and fullback Billy O’Dell rounded out the Clemson backfield.
Dreher High School’s Joel Wells went on to play football at Clemson University and then the Montreal Alouettes before playing in the N.F.L. for the New York Giants.
While ten opponents made up the Tigers’ schedule, it was the South Carolina game that stood out the most for Wells.
“It was exciting because I got to go home and play in front of people I went to high school with—who went to U.S.C. That made winning even bigger,” Wells said.
At the time, the game was played exclusively in Columbia and was given the title Big Thursday.
During his first season, Wells led the freshman squad to a win over South Carolina. At the same time, the varsity squad was enduring one of the longest droughts in the history of the rivalry. By Wells’s junior year in 1955, the varsity team had not defeated the Gamecocks since 1948.
Wells had already made an impact in the rivalry. As a sophomore in 1954, he threw a pass to Pagliei, who ran for a touchdown. The play spanned 81 yards and was one of the longest pass plays in Clemson history. In 1955, Wells made his presence felt again, providing a rushing touchdown in the Tigers’ 28-14 win. Despite what Wells perceived as a disadvantage for Clemson, he won three of four games in Columbia.
Wells finished his Clemson career in the Orange Bowl, where the Tigers faced the Colorado Buffalos.
“Any time you get to a bowl game, it’s a heck of an experience. It’s one of the reasons you play college football.”
During that era of college football, it was tough to make a bowl game because there were only seven available.
Despite a furious comeback, Clemson fell 27-21.
After his collegiate career, Wells was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round. He turned down the Packers offer and decided to play in Canada for the Montreal Alouettes.
From 1957-1959, Wells played both offense and defense for Montreal. There were a few differences in the rules in Canadian football compared to American football, including no timeouts.
There was also a rule stating that no more than 13 players on each team could be from the United States, all the other players had to be from Canada.
After three years, Wells gave up football for a job at General Electric. At the time, he had no intention of ever playing football again.
That changed in 1961 when Peahead Walker, who coached Wells in Montreal, contacted the former running back about joining the New York Giants. Wells signed a contract with the Giants for $27,000.
He remained at running back in New York but was a backup to Alex Webster, a former draft pick of the Washington Redskins, and Bob Gaither, a second round pick by the Giants in the 1961 N.F.L. draft.
After six games, Webster told coaches they needed to play Wells. The coaches agreed, and Wells was the starting running back the rest of the season. New York won five of its remaining eight games en route to an appearance in the N.F.L. Championship game against the Green Bay Packers, a team the Giants had lost to during the regular season.
With the game in Green Bay in late December, the weather played a huge role in the outcome. The temperature, which stood at a blustery two degrees, made it almost impossible for New York quarterback Y.A. Tittle to throw the ball. As a result, the Packers won easily, 37- 0.
Following the 1961 season, Wells left football for good. After his playing career, he moved to Greenville where he remains today.
While he no longer plays football, Wells remains an avid fan of his beloved Clemson Tigers. He says he no longer follows Dreher since he is unable to get any of the Blue Devils’ scores on any of the Greenville media outlets.
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