Kenneth Wilbur Huffine (December 22, 1897 – September 26, 1977) was a professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player-coach who played in the
National Football League from 1920 until 1925. During that time, he played for the
Muncie Flyers
The Muncie Flyers, known as the Congerville Flyers for most of their existence, were a professional American football team from Muncie, Indiana, that played from 1905 to 1926. The Flyers were an independent squad for most of their existence, but ...
,
Chicago Staleys and the
Dayton Triangles
The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League (NFL)) in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangl ...
. He was a member of the Staleys' 1921 Championship team. The Staleys were renamed the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
in 1922. Ken also played with the independent
Fort Wayne Friars in 1920, alongside the legendary
Jim Thorpe.
Prior to playing football professionally, Ken 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 ...
at
Purdue University. He was a three-time
letterman with the Boilermakers in 1916, 1917 and 1919.
Rough first game
Ken also played in one of the first NFL games as Muncie played the
Rock Island Independents
The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team, based in Rock Island, Illinois, from 1907 to 1926. The Independents were a founding National Football League franchise. They hosted what has been retrospectively designated ...
on October 3, 1920. While serving as the team's
punter, Huffine had three of his punts blocked during the game. The Independents used each blocked punt to score three touchdowns in the first quarter. Rock Island's
Ed Shaw blocked Huffine's first attempt and
Arnie Wyman picked it up to run 35 yards for the score. Later Huffine got off a successful punt, however the Islanders drove to the Muncie two-yard line, only to fumble. But, when Huffine went into the
end zone for yet another punt attempt,
Walt Buland broke through to block, and Wyman scored again by falling on the ball in the end zone. As soon as Huffine was called upon to punt again, Shaw and
Oke Smith blocked another one. This time
Dewey Lyle recovered but stepped out of bounds on the 15-yard line.
Rube Ursella then scored for Rock Island shortly after.
Personality and traits
According to Henry E. Beck's book ''Growin' Up With Men And Machines'', Ken is described as a "soft spoken man with a hand like a
catcher's mitt". He was an educated person as people like being around him. During the conversations Ken would listen to every word spoken to him.
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huffine, Ken
1897 births
1977 deaths
Players of American football from Indiana
Purdue Boilermakers football players
Chicago Staleys players
Dayton Triangles players
Fort Wayne Friars players
Muncie Flyers players
Muncie Flyers coaches