Thursday, October 07, 2010
Oldest NFL And Former UK Football Player Dies
KENTUCKY....
Ralph Kercheval, the first All-Southeastern Conference football player at the University of Kentucky, has passed away in Lexington at the age of 98. Kercheval, who graduated from Henry Clay High School, also participated in basketball and track at UK, but football was his best sport. He was a football letterman from 1931-33 and was the first Wildcat to earn first-team All-SEC honors during the inaugural season of the league in 1933.
Kercheval played quarterback, defensive back and kicker for the Wildcats and is best known for his exploits as a punter. He still holds SEC records for most punts in a season (101), most punting yards in a season (4,413) and his 52.0-yard punting average against Cincinnati in 1933 is still the single-game league record (min. 10 punts). During his UK career, he punted 234 times for 9,749 yards, an average of 44.8 yards per punt.
Following his time at UK, Kercheval played seven years (1934-40) in the National Football League for the Brooklyn Dodgers as a running back and punter. At the time of his death, he was known as the oldest living player in the NFL.
Ralph Kercheval, the first All-Southeastern Conference football player at the University of Kentucky, has passed away in Lexington at the age of 98. Kercheval, who graduated from Henry Clay High School, also participated in basketball and track at UK, but football was his best sport. He was a football letterman from 1931-33 and was the first Wildcat to earn first-team All-SEC honors during the inaugural season of the league in 1933.
Kercheval played quarterback, defensive back and kicker for the Wildcats and is best known for his exploits as a punter. He still holds SEC records for most punts in a season (101), most punting yards in a season (4,413) and his 52.0-yard punting average against Cincinnati in 1933 is still the single-game league record (min. 10 punts). During his UK career, he punted 234 times for 9,749 yards, an average of 44.8 yards per punt.
Following his time at UK, Kercheval played seven years (1934-40) in the National Football League for the Brooklyn Dodgers as a running back and punter. At the time of his death, he was known as the oldest living player in the NFL.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 4:51 PM 
