John Alec Kimbrough (June 14, 1918 – May 8, 2006) was a college athlete, a member of the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

, the star of two western movies and a rancher. His older brother

Frank Kimbrough Frank Kimbrough (November 2, 1956 – December 30, 2020) was an American post-bop jazz pianist. He was born and raised in Roxboro, North Carolina. He did some work at Chapel Hill before moving to Washington, D. C. in 1980 and then New York City ...

served as head football coach at Baylor and

West Texas A&M West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Association of Colleges ...

Football

Kimbrough, an alumnus of

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, was known as the "Haskell Hurricane" when he played

Texas A&M Aggies football The Texas A&M Aggies football program represents Texas A&M University in the sport of American football. The Aggies compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Divisio ...

team. He played fullback on the Aggie's undefeated 1939 national championship team. In 1940 he finished second to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Tom Harmon Thomas Dudley Harmon (September 28, 1919 – March 15, 1990), known as Tom Harmon, as well as by the nickname "Old 98", was an American football player, military pilot, actor, and sports broadcaster. Harmon grew up in Gary, Indiana, and playe ...

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

balloting. According to his

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

biography, ''Jarrin' John'' was a punishing 6 ft 2 in tall 210 lb

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

known for breaking tackles with his high knee action who was honored with induction into that organization in 1954. In 1941, he started along

in the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

backfield in the

third American Football League The American Football League, also known retrospectively as the AFL III to distinguish it from earlier organizations of that name, was a professional American football league that operated from 1940–1941. It was created when three teams, the o ...

and became the team's primary running threat after Harmon left the team for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

Acting

After the AFL folded in response to the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...

, Kimbrough parlayed his gridiron fame and athletic good looks into a Hollywood contract, though he only appeared in two western

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s, ''

Sundown Jim ''Sundown Jim'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by James Tinling, written by William Bruckner and Robert F. Metzler, and starring John Kimbrough, Virginia Gilmore, Arleen Whelan, Joe Sawyer, Paul Hurst and Moroni Olsen. It was rele ...

'' and '' The Lone Star Ranger'', both released in 1942.

Military

He later served as an

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

pilot in the Pacific Theater of Operations during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Return to football

Returning from military service, Kimbrough played for the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dons were the first pr ...

of the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

; unfortunately, his second run at a professional football career was cut short by a series of

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

s that started when he was only 30 years old. He was forced to leave the game in 1948 after three seasons with the Dons.

Politics

Kimbrough was elected to the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

in 1953 as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

.Texas Legislators Past and Present
/ref>

Death

Kimbrough died May 8, 2006, in

Haskell, Texas Haskell is a city in central Haskell County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,322. It is the Haskell county seat. Geography Haskell is located at (33.160152, –99.734572). U.S. Route 277 passes t ...

. The cause of death was

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

References

* Staff and Wire Report. (13 May 2006). ''John Kimbrough, 87; Football Star, B-Movie Actor, Texas Legislator''
Los Angeles Times

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimbrough, John 1918 births 2006 deaths American football fullbacks Los Angeles Dons players New York Americans (1940 AFL) players Texas A&M Aggies football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees American male actors United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Haskell, Texas Players of American football from Texas 20th-century American politicians Deaths from pneumonia in Texas Military personnel from Texas