Where Are They Now: Joe Doss

NOTE: This Where Are They Now feature on Joe Doss first appeared in the Memphis GameDay program Nov. 29 when the Tigers hosted Cincinnati.

Joe Doss vividly remembers the moment.

As a then-University of Memphis football player with an in-season weekend off because of a bye week, he was headed out for a fun Saturday night with some of his teammates. As he walked past the door of Brandon Patterson, another teammate, he knocked.

Patterson was in the room. Studying. On a rare Saturday night off.

The moment had a huge impact on Doss.

"We were going to party, we were going to hit the town, so we were going to ask Brandon to come," Doss said. "I pushed open the doorand I'm all (excited), and he's in there studying.

"I remember saying, 'Whoa! This guy is on another level.' He was so disciplined, so structured, that I decided maybe I need to take notes. I was always serious about studying, but I started taking it more seriously. He was able to see far beyond where I was at the time."

Twelve years removed from his last carry for the Tigers, Doss, a former Melrose High star, is enjoying a successful career in Memphis as a fee-based financial planner with Capital Financial Group. He also recruits, trains and develops upcoming advisors in the industry.

"I was always interested in finance," Doss said. "I was also curious about financial real estate. I thought I was going to be a real estate person if football didn't work.

"Brandon was a finance major, too. He was structured in his ways. He said you can always get your real estate license, why don't you major in finance and get that minor in real estate."

Still ranked among the top 10 rushers in Memphis history, Doss remembers being intent on making it to the NFL. He had played behind DeAngelo Williams, the greatest running back in the program's history, as a freshman and sophomore, before taking over as the starter. Doss led the team in rushing as a junior and a senior.

"When you're in college there's never a doubt that you won't get to the NFL," Doss said. "Then the day comes and you fall back on the things we took for granted.

"I was lucky enough, at one point during my football career, to (realize) academics and football, to me, were a package deal. My mom laid the foundation early. Without education, there was no football."

Doss admits football was a passion for him, from the time he started playing at six years old until he finished his college career. It created lasting memories, from being part of multiple bowl teams during the Tommy West era to perhaps Doss' favorite afternoon in a Tigers uniform.

The Tigers were playing in Knoxville against the University of Tennessee in a mid-November game during the 2005 season. Williams did not play because of an ankle injury and Doss not only started, but rushed for a team-leading 77 yards on 17 carries.

Memphis led for most of the first half – including 13-0 early in the second quarter – and held a 16-14 advantage late in third quarter before falling 20-16 in front of 106,647.

"People always mention that Tennessee game," Doss said. "People say: 'You stepped up for us in that game.' That's the one, for sure. I grew up in that moment. The only downfall was we didn't win."

The passion now is financial planning.

"I love it," said Doss, a Tigers football season-ticket holder. "One of those things growing up, money was always one of those things I had a lot of curiosity around. What was the difference between the haves and the have-nots.

"I wanted to know about money and how could I help people who needed it most. The work I do, to help people, makes me sleep good."

University of Memphis Athletics

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