Charles Collins "Ki" Aldrich (June 1, 1916 – March 12, 1983) 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 was inducted into the

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 ...

in 1960.

Early life

Aldrich was born in

Rogers, Texas Rogers is a town in Bell County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,113 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metropolitan area. Geography Rogers is located in southeastern Bell County at (30.932391, –97.228729 ...

and attended Temple High School in

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the U.S. census, and is one of the two principal cities in Bell County. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in t ...

, where he was named All-State as a center in 1934. He was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

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 ...

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. At TCU, he played alongside two legendary quarterbacks—

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. He ...

and

Davey O'Brien Robert David O'Brien (June 22, 1917 – November 18, 1977) was an American football quarterback. He played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU) and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagle ...

. Aldrich's senior year, 1938, the Horned Frogs won the National Championship, finishing 11-0 and winning the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

Professional career

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 ...

made Aldrich the first selection in the 1939 NFL Draft, in which his TCU teammates O'Brien and I. B. Hale also were selected in the top ten. He played two seasons for the Cardinals before moving to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. After two seasons in Washington, he left to serve in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

during World War II. He returned to the Redskins in 1945, and retired in 1947. During his professional career, Aldrich averaged 50 minutes of playing time per game.

After football

After retiring from football, Aldirch served as the superintendent at the Lena Pope Orphanage in

. His first wife was the daughter of the founder. He died March 12, 1983 in

Legacy

His coach at TCU,

Dutch Meyer Leo Robert "Dutch" Meyer (January 15, 1898 – December 3, 1982) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1934 to 1952, compiling a record ...

, said of Aldrich: "That boy wanted to play football more than anyone I ever knew." Baugh called him "the toughest player I ever knew." Aldrich was inducted into the

in 1960 and was named to the

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

's All-Time Team in 1969.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, Ki 1916 births 1983 deaths All-American college football players People from Rogers, Texas United States Navy personnel of World War II American football centers Chicago Cardinals players College Football Hall of Fame inductees National Football League first-overall draft picks TCU Horned Frogs football players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Texas