DeKALB — Former football team captain John McNamara was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984 without playing a down of football outside of NIU.
McNamara, an offensive guard for the Huskies from 1927 to 1930, made far more of an impact on NIU and the world as an administrator and educator.
McNamara spent his early years out of college as a teacher and coach in Illinois. He also spent several years as an associate professor at the University of Detroit.
In 1942, McNamara received a doctorate in industrial physiology from Purdue University and just years later joined M&M Candies.