He played college football at Yale University and was selected as a consensus All-American at the halfback position in 1909.

[1] Philbin was also captain of the Yale Bulldogs baseball team[2] and a member of Skull and Bones.

After receiving his degree, he practiced for three years with a law firm in Dallas, Texas.

During World War I, he served with the Army Signal Corps in a unit commanded by Fiorello La Guardia in Foggia, Italy.

During World War II, while La Guardia was mayor of New York, Philbin served as the general counsel of the city's Civil Defense Volunteer Office.