- John Kimbrough
NFL player
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DateOfBirth=birth date|1918|6|14
Birthplace=Haskell, Texas
DateOfDeath=death date and age|2006|5|8|1918|6|14
Deathplace=Haskell, Texas
College=Texas A&M
Position=FB / QB
DraftedYear=1941
DraftedRound=1 / Pick 2
ProBowls=
Stats=y
DatabaseFootball=KIMBRJOH01
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years=1941
1946-1948
teams=New York Americans (AFL) Los Angeles Dons (AAFC )
CollegeHOF=30081John Kimbrough (1918-2006) was a college athlete, a member of the
Texas Legislature , the star of two western movies and a rancher. His older brother Frank Kimbrough served as head football coach at Baylor and West Texas A&M.Kimbrough, an alumnus of
Texas A&M University , was known as the "Haskell Hurricane" when he playedTexas A&M Aggies football team. He played fullback on the Aggie's undefeated 1939 national championship team. He was 6-2, 212 pounds and was a punishing runner who ran with high knee action.Fact|date=March 2007 He had speed as well as size and could run the 100 yard run in about 10.0 seconds.Fact|date=March 2007In 1940 he finished second to the
University of Michigan 'sTom Harmon inHeisman Trophy balloting. Kimbrough was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1954.In 1941 he started along
Tom Harmon in the New York Americans backfield in the short-livedAmerican Football League and became the team's primary running threat after Harmon left the team formilitary service . After the AFL folded in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Kimbrough parlayed his gridiron fame and athletic good looks into a Hollywood contract, though he only appeared in two westernmotion picture s, "Sundown Jim" and "Lonestar Ranger", both released in 1942.He later served as an Army pilot in the
Pacific Theater of Operations duringWorld War II . Returning from military service, Kimbrough played for theLos Angeles Dons of theAll-America Football Conference ; unfortunately, his second run at a professional football career was cut short by a series of heart attacks that started when he was only 30 years old. He was forced to leave the game in 1948 after three seasons with the Dons.Kimbrough was elected to the
Texas Legislature in 1953.Kimbrough died
May 8 ,2006 , inHaskell, Texas . The cause of death waspneumonia .References
* Staff and Wire Report. (
13 May 2006 ). "John Kimbrough, 87; Football Star, B-Movie Actor, Texas Legislator". [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-passings13.3may13,1,2113548.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california Los Angeles Times]External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0453917/ John Kimbrough] at the
IMDB
* [http://www.collegefootball.org/famersearch.php?id=30081 College Football Hall of Fame Biography]
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