 Heinc. 1942 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 7 | |||||||||||||||
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| Positions | Center Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1909-08-22)August 22, 1909 Redding, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died | January 31, 1992(1992-01-31) (aged 82) San Clemente, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Burlington (Burlington, Washington) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Washington State (1928–1930) | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||
| Career | AAFC: 2–1 (.667) | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||||||||
Melvin Jack Hein (August 22, 1909 – January 31, 1992), nicknamed "Old Indestructible",[1][2] was an American professionalfootball player. In the era ofone-platoon football, he played as acenter (then a position on both offense and defense) and was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1954 and thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 as part of the first class of inductees. He was also named to theNational Football League (NFL) 75th, and100th Anniversary All-Time Teams.
Hein playedcollege football as a center for theWashington State Cougars from 1928 to 1930, leading the1930 team to the1931 Rose Bowl after an undefeated regular season. He received first-teamAll-Pacific Coast andAll-American honors.
Hein next played fifteen seasons in the NFL for theNew York Giants from 1931 to 1945. He was selected as a first-teamAll-Pro for eight consecutive years from 1933 to 1940 and won theJoe F. Carr Trophy as the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1938. He was the starting center on NFL championship teams in1934 and1938 and played in seven NFL championship games (1933–1935,1938–1939,1941, and1944).
Hein also served as the head football coach atUnion College from 1943 to 1946 and as an assistant coach for theLos Angeles Dons of theAll-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1947 to 1948, theNew York Yankees of the AAFC in 1949, theLos Angeles Rams in 1950, and theUSC Trojans from 1951 to 1965. He was also the supervisor of officials for theAmerican Football League (AFL) from 1966 to 1969 and for theAmerican Football Conference (AFC) from 1970 to 1974.
Hein was born in 1909 atRedding inShasta County, California.[3] His father, Herman Hein (1886–1940), was a California native of German and Dutch ancestry who worked as an electrician for a power house operator. His mother, Charlotte Hein (1887–1967), was a California native of English and German ancestry. As of 1910, the family was living atRound Mountain, about 30 miles northeast of Redding.[4]
By 1920, the family was living inGlacier inWhatcom County, Washington, where Hein's father was working as a lineman on transmission lines.[5] Hein had an older brother, Lloyd, and two younger brothers, Homer and Clayton.[6] The family later moved toFairhaven andBurlington, where Hein's father worked as an insurance agent and where Hein attended both Fairhaven andBurlington High Schools.[3][6] He also playedbasketball as acenter at Burlington High.
In 1927, Hein enrolled atWashington State College inPullman joinedSigma Nu fraternity and played center for theCougars from1928 to1930.[7] With Hein as the starting center, the Cougars compiled a 10–2 record in1929 and 9–1 in 1930. The 1930 team won thePacific Coast Conference championship and were undefeated in the regular season, but fell toAlabama in theRose Bowl.[8] Hein played all sixty minutes of the Cougars' victories overCalifornia andUSC on October 4 and 11.[9]
At the end of his senior year, Hein was selected by theAssociated Press andUnited Press as the first-team center on theAll-Pacific Coast team.[10][11] He was also selected by theCentral Press as the first-team center,[12] and by the All-America Board in a tie for the first-team center position,[13] on theAll-American team.
While at Washington State, Hein also played for three years (freshman, sophomore, and junior years) on thebasketball team and for one year on the Cougars track team as a freshman.[14]
In 1931, Hein signed a contract with theNew York Giants,[15] married his college sweetheart,[16] and packed all of their belongings into a 1929 Ford and drove fromPullman to New York.[17]
Hein played for 15 years as a center and a defensive lineman. Hein was a first-team All-Pro center eight straight years from 1933 to 1940. He was also selected as the NFL's most valuable player in 1938 which he is still the onlyoffensive lineman to ever win the award. He was the starting center on two NFL championship teams — in1934 (NYG 30, Chicago 13) and again in1938 (NYG 23, Green Bay 17). Hein was also a member of five Giants teams that lost NFL championship games —1933,1935,1939,1941, and1944.
Hein had planned to retire after a dozen years in the NFL and become the head coach atUnion College inSchenectady, New York.[18][19] When Union's program went on hiatus due to World War II, Hein returned to the Giants on weekends for three more seasons and retired after the1945 season.[20]
Hein worked as a football coach and league administrator for more than 30 years. He began coaching in 1943 as the head football coach atUnion College inSchenectady, New York. For the next three years, he held that position, though the 1943 and 1945 Union College teams had their seasons cancelled due to the disruption of losing many players toWorld War II.[21][22][23] In 1944, the team compiled an 0–5 record,[21] as Hein coached the team on Saturdays and played for the Giants on Sundays.[1] In 1946, Hein continued as Union College's head coach after retiring from the Giants.[24] He led the 1946 team to a 3–5 record.[21]
In March 1947, Hein was hired as an assistant coach with theLos Angeles Dons of theAll-America Football Conference (AAFC).[25] He served initially under head coachDudley DeGroot on the1947 Dons team. However, on November 18, 1947, DeGroot was fired as head coach, and assistant coaches Hein andTed Shipkey were appointed as co-coaches to lead the team for the final three games of the season.[26] The 1947 Dons compiled a 5–6 record under DeGroot and a 2–1 record under Hein and Shipkey.[27] Hein resumed his position as an assistant coach underJimmy Phelan on the1948 Dons team that again compiled a 7–7 record.[28]
After two years with the Dons, Hein was hired in February 1949 as an assistant coach for theNew York Yankees of the AAFC under head coachRed Strader.[29] The1949 Yankees compiled an 8–4 record and finished in second place in the AAFC. The Yankees' forward wall, which was coached by Hein, was rated as the toughest in the AAFC.[30]
Hein returned toLos Angeles in 1950 as the line coach for theLos Angeles Rams.[30] Under head coachJoe Stydahar, the1950 Rams won the NFL National Conference championship with a 9–3 record but lost to theCleveland Browns in the1950 NFL Championship Game.
Hein left the Rams in February 1951 to join theUSC Trojans football team as its line coach under head coachJess Hill.[31] Hein remained with the Trojans for 15 years through the 1965 season.[32] During his tenure with the program, the Trojans won a national championship (1962) and four conference championships (1952,1959 [co-championship], 1962, and1964 [co-championship]).
In June 1966, Hein was hired by commissionerAl Davis as the supervisor of officials for theAmerican Football League.[33] He remained in that position from 1966 to 1969 and continued thereafter as the supervisor of officials for theAmerican Football Conference from 1970 to 1974.[1] He retired in May 1974 after more than 45 years in college and professional football.[32]
Hein received numerous honors for his accomplishments as a football player. His honors include the following:
Hein was married in August 1931 to Florence Emma Porter of Pullman, Washington.[47][16] They had two children, Sharen Lynn, born c. 1939, and Mel Hein Jr. (1941–2020).[31] Mel Jr. competed for theUSC Trojans track and field team and once held the United States indoor record in thepole vault in the 1960s.[48]
In his later years, Hein lived inSan Clemente, California.[49] By 1991, Hein was suffering from stomach cancer, and his weight dropped from 225 to 130 pounds.[22] Hein died ofstomach cancer in 1992 at age 82 at his home in San Clemente.[22][50]
