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R.I.P. Jack Kemp, AFL Quarterback
May 3, 2009 – 11:43 AM
The obituaries for Jack Kemp, who died Saturday at age 73, have focused mostly on his career as a congressman, secretary of housing and urban development, and vice presidential candidate. But we should also take some time to remember Jack Kemp the quarterback.
It's been so long since Kemp played -- and he accomplished so much following his retirement in 1969 -- that it has been largely forgotten just how good a football player Kemp was. Growing up in Los Angeles, Kemp was a good athlete and always knew he wanted to be a quarterback, but USC and UCLA didn't recruit him, so he decided to go to Division III Occidental instead. Kemp said years later that Occidental appealed to him because it ran a pro-style passing game that would prepare him for the NFL. That would turn out to be a wise career choice.
The Detroit Lions chose Kemp in the 17th round of the 1957 NFL draft, but he didn't make the team. He played very briefly for four games with the Pittsburgh Steelers in his rookie year, then bounced around the league with the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers without ever getting into a regular-season game.
Finally, in 1960, the launch of the American Football League gave Kemp another chance, and he signed on with the Los Angeles Chargers. Kemp earned the starting job and proved to be a good fit in coach Sid Gillman's passing attack, leading the league in yards per attempt and yards per completion.
But he had his best years after leaving the Chargers for the Buffalo Bills during the 1962 season. He was chosen to the All-AFL Team five times in his six full seasons with the Bills, and he twice led them to the AFL championship. His final season was 1969, and he went straight from representing Buffalo on the football field to representing it in Congress, running for and winning a seat in the House of Representatives in 1970.
Kemp's football legacy also includes two sons who played quarterback: Jeff Kemp, who played in the NFL in the 1980s, and Jimmy Kemp, who played in the Canadian Football League in the 1990s.
Video via Shutdown Corner.
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