Fred Wendt (July 15, 1924
– May 18, 2020) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player. He played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
for the
UTEP Miners football
The UTEP Miners football program represents University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in the sport of American football. The Miners compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the West Div ...
team. He led the NCAA major colleges in rushing yardage with 1,570 rushing yards in 1948.
His total of 1,570 rushing yards in 1948 broke the national collegiate rushing record of 1,281 yards set by Rudy Mobley in 1942. Wendt's rushing record stood for 20 years until broken in 1968 by
O. J. Simpson. Wendt also broke the NCAA single-season scoring record with 152 points in 10 games, including 32 place-kicking points. He did not play during the 1949 season due to a leg injury and was signed by the
Chicago Cardinals
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons.
Roots ca ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
in April 1950.
Wendt died on May 18, 2020.
[Remembering UTEP football legend Fred Wendt](_blank)
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See also
* List of NCAA major college football yearly rushing leaders
The list of college football yearly rushing leaders identifies the major college rushing leaders for each season from 1937 to the present. It includes yearly leaders in three statistical categories: (1) rushing yardage; (2) yards per carry; and (3 ...
* List of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders
The list of NCAA major college football yearly scoring leaders identifies the NCAA major college scoring leaders. Beginning with the 1937 college football season, when the NCAA began maintaining official records, the list includes each year's lea ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendt, Fred
American football halfbacks
UTEP Miners football players
Players of American football from New Mexico
Sportspeople from Las Cruces, New Mexico
Players of American football from El Paso, Texas
1924 births
2020 deaths