Kenneth David Farragut, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – February 16, 2014) 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 wi ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. He played professionally in 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 ...

(NFL) for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

High school years

Born in

Ponchatoula, Louisiana Ponchatoula is the second-largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. The population was 6,559 at the 2010 census and 7,545 at the time of the 2020 population estimates program. Etymology It is speculated that the name is derived from the Ch ...

, Farragut moved with his family to

Moss Point, Mississippi Moss Point is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,147 in 2020, a decline from the figure of 13,704 in 2010. The Moss Point Historic District and several individual buildings are listed on the National Regi ...

, where he became a star

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for his high school team and their coach,

Tom Swayze Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a characte ...

. The team went undefeated in 1945, with Farragut as captain. As a senior in 1946, he earned all-state honors. When Swayze took an assistant coaching job at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

in 1947, Farragut followed him, becoming one of coach

Johnny Vaught John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and aga ...

's first recruits.Former Moss Point, Ole Miss, NFL star Ken Farragut dead at 85
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College career

At U of M, Farragut was the team captain in 1950. Following his senior season in 1951, he was invited to play in the College All-Star Game in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Professional career

Farragut was drafted in the sixth round (68th overall) of the

1951 NFL Draft The 1951 National Football League Draft was held January 18–19, 1951, at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season, and the NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft. This was the fifth year that th ...

by the

, where he played center from 1951 to 1954. He was named to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 1953.

Legacy

Farragut was selected to Ole Miss Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame 1992. He was the recipient of the NFL Alumni Career Achievement Award 1992.

Personal life and death

Retiring from football in 1954, Farragut remained in Philadelphia and eventually began a successful roofing company. His son David took over as CEO in 1997. Farragut died from complications of diabetes in February 2014. He was 85. He was survived by his wife Jane and their three children.

References

1928 births 2014 deaths American football centers Ole Miss Rebels football players Philadelphia Eagles players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players People from Moss Point, Mississippi People from Ponchatoula, Louisiana Players of American football from Mississippi {{offensive-lineman-1920s-stub