Shipwreck Kelly

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Shipwreck Kelly
Positions:
RB , QB 		Jersey number (s):
22
born July 8, 1910 in Simstown , Kentucky
died on August 17, 1986 in Lighthouse Point , Florida
Career information
Active : 1932 - 1937
College : University of Kentucky
Teams

Career statistics
Games     26th
as a starter     14th
Touchdown     8th
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards

John Simms "Shipwreck" Kelly (* 8. July 1910 in Sims Town , Washington County , Kentucky ; † 17th August 1986 in Lighthouse Point , Florida ) was an American American football player . He played in the National Football League (NFL) with the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers . Kelly was a longtime co-owner of the Dodgers.

youth

John Kelly grew up in a wealthy family in Springfield . He was raised by his grandparents after his mother passed away. He was already playing American football in high school . After graduating from high school, he first studied for a year at a denominational college , but returned shortly afterwards to Springfield, as he was barely given any time on the college football team . He continued his studies at the University of Kentucky in 1929 .

Player career

College career

Shipwreck Kelly also played American football for the Kentucky team . He played mostly as a running back . Kelly was considered an eccentric and bon vivant. To begin his studies, he drove up with a chauffeur. He had a habit of holding a press conference before a game started. Only when there were at least 12,000 spectators in the stadium of the "Kentucky Wildcats" was he ready to warm up. Nevertheless, he was feared by his opponents due to his tough style of play. He got his nickname after the former seaman Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly , who achieved fame as a stake-stater in the USA during the youth of John Kelly and who made a guest appearance at the place of study of John Kelly in Lexington . In college he met Ralph Kercheval , with whom he would later play with the Brooklyn Dodgers. For his athletic achievements, he was honored by the University of Kentucky from 1929 to 1931.

Professional career

After graduation, Kelly became a bank clerk in New York City . After two weeks he decided to take part in a trial training session with the New York Giants . He got a player's contract and played for a year for the Steve Owen coached New York Giants. The season was neither successful for Kelly, who played as quarterback, nor for his team and he then moved to the Brooklyn Dodgers, which he bought together with Chris Cagle , a teammate with the Giants, for a purchase price of 25,000 US dollars . With the Dodgers was the future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Benny Friedman as a quarterback under contract. 1933 was Kelly's most successful year in the NFL. He caught 22 passes from Friedman and scored three touchdowns . The number of passes caught was an NFL annual high. With the help of Fullback Ollie Sansen , he gained 274 yards of space through running play. This achievement also earned him the choice of All-Pro . After the 1934 season, Kelly initially no longer appeared as a player for the Dodgers. As a team owner, he managed to sign well-known players; in addition to Kercheval, Kelly was also able to tie the star players Ace Parker , Perry Schwartz , Pug Manders , Red Badgro and Frank Kinard to the team. Shipwreck Kelly himself did not appear as a player for the time being, rather he became part of New York high society . In 1937 he played twice for the Dodgers, after which he no longer pursued his playing career.

After the playing career

In 1941, in New York City , Kelly married Brenda Frazier , a debutante from a wealthy Boston family. During World War II he worked as an FBI agent in Latin America . He remained the owner of the Dodgers until 1945. After his divorce in 1956, he remarried. As a real estate agent in Florida , he became a multi- millionaire . Shipwreck Kelly died of a stroke at the age of 76 and is buried in Saint Dominics Cemetery in Springfield .

Honors

Shipwreck Kelly was once elected All-Pro and is a member of the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John "Shipwreck" Kelly ( Memento from January 28, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ↑ Photo of Kelly with his wife
  3. ↑ Shipwreck Kelly's Tomb on the Find a Grave website

Web links

literature

  • Richard Whittingham, Keith McClellan, "What a game they played: an inside look at the golden era of pro football", 2002, ISBN 9780803298194 .
  • John E. Kleber, "The Kentucky encyclopedia", 1992, ISBN 9780813117720 .
personal data
SURNAME Kelly, Shipwreck
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kelly, John Simms
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American football player
DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Simstown , Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 1986
Place of death Lighthouse Point , Florida