Duffy Daugherty - Early Years, Playing Career, and Military Service

Early Years, Playing Career, and Military Service

Daugherty was born in Emeigh, Pennsylvania on September 8, 1915. Though Daugherty would later become known as "the Irish pixie, short and stocky, a man of endearing charm, with smiles and jokes," both of his parents were Pennslylvania natives whose parents were immigrants from Scotland. His father, Joseph Daugherty, was the manager of a general merchandise store at Susquehanna in 1920. By 1930, the family had moved to Barnesboro, Pennsylvania, where Daugherty's father was working as an adjuster for a compensation and insurance company. Daugherty had two older brothers, John and Joseph, Jr., and a younger sister Jean.

Raised as a Presbyterian, he converted to Catholicism in 1964.

Daugherty played college football as a guard at Syracuse University. He was named captain of the Syracuse football team in his senior year in 1939.

Daugherty enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 7, 1941, ten months before the United States entered World War II. In his enlistment papers, Daugherty listed his residence as Onondaga County, New York, and his occupation as "unskilled machine shop and related occupations." His height was recorded at 68 inches and his weight at 175 pounds. While serving in the Army, Daugherty was promoted from private to major and earned the Bronze Star.