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.jpg) Kern in 1971, with theColts | |
| No. 44, 45 | |
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| Position: | Defensive back (NFL) Quarterback (college) |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1949-05-28)May 28, 1949 (age 75) Lancaster, Ohio, U.S. |
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Lancaster (OH) |
| College: | Ohio State |
| NFL draft: | 1971: 10th round, 260th pick |
| Career history | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats atPro Football Reference | |
Rex William Kern (born May 28, 1949) is an American former professionalfootball player. He played professional football in theNational Football League (NFL) atdefensive back for theBaltimore Colts andBuffalo Bills. In college, Kern was thequarterback for theOhio State Buckeyes from1968 to1970; the Buckeyes went undefeated in 1968 and werenational champions. Kern was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in2007.[1]
Born and raised inLancaster, Ohio, and the son of abarber, Kern was a star three-sport athlete forLancaster High School and graduated in 1967. Inbaseball, he was selected by theKansas City Athletics, and was offeredbasketballscholarships toUCLA,North Carolina, andOhio University. However Kern had long sought to play basketball forFred Taylor ofOhio State and had fostered a relationship with Taylor that led to a scholarship offer.
During the recruiting process, he was also recruited byWoody Hayes and committed to Ohio State to play both sports.
At Ohio State, Kern quarterbacked the freshman team in 1967, which included 11 high schoolAll-Americans, but suffered a back injury playing freshman basketball. Despite back surgery in June, Kern recovered in time to be named first string quarterback for the varsity football team ahead of senior Bill Long, who had quarterbacked the Buckeyes in 1967.
Kern was the leader of the Buckeyes'Super Sophomores, and guided the Buckeyes to an undefeated season and a consensus national championship in1968. The Super Sophomores finished their three-year varsity careers with a recordof 27–2. Kern was a fine passer and a dangerous runner. In the 1968, 1969, and 1970 seasons, he ran for 583, 524, and 597 yards respectively—high numbers for a Big Ten quarterback.
The 1968 team shut out top-rankedPurdue on October 12 and went on to an undefeated season, aBig Ten championship, and a berth in theRose Bowl. Kern was named Most Outstanding Player in the bowl as Ohio State defeatedO. J. Simpson and theUSC Trojans,27–16, and were consensus national champions.
In1969, the Buckeyes were expected to repeat as national champions. Kern directed a high-scoring (averaging 46 points per game) junior-dominated Buckeye offense that cruised through its first eight games. But Kern and the Buckeyes were devastated by a24–12 loss atMichigan, a game in which Kern threw fourinterceptions. Despite the loss, Ohio State finished as Big Ten co-champions with Michigan and Kern was third in balloting for the 1969Heisman Trophy. He was also named a first-teamAll-American. Ohio State did not play in a bowl game, because prior to the1975 season, the Big Ten and Pac-8 conferences allowed just one bowl team each, to the Rose Bowl.
The super sophomores rebounded as seniors in1970 to win the Big Ten title outright, gaining revenge againstMichigan. The Buckeyes finished the regular season undefeatedat 9–0, earning another trip to Pasadena. However, they were upset by the#12Stanford Indians, led by quarterbackJim Plunkett, theHeisman Trophy winner. Kern, ateam captain, finished fifth on the1970 Heisman ballot.
Kern was elected to theOhio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 1978, was selected to theOhio State Football All-Century Team in 2000, and theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
Kern was selected in thetenth round of the1971 NFL draft by thedefending NFL championBaltimore Colts and played in all fourteen games in hisrookie season, supplantingJim Duncan as startingcornerback.[2] He only made five starts in1972 due to a recurrence of his back injury, and recovered to play a full season in1973, with two interceptions.
Kern was theColts'National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) representative during theunion's strike prior to the1974 season. After the strike ended, he was waived when Baltimore general managerJoe Thomas acted on his threat to cut players who had walked out. Kern played eight games with theBuffalo Bills that season before ending his career as an active player due to chronic back problems.[3]
Kern earned three degrees from Ohio State, abaccalaureate, amaster's, and aPh.D. in education. He credited his success to his education, and his education to Woody Hayes, with whom he had a lifelong friendship. In 2001, he created the Anne and Woody Hayes Endowment for the prevention ofchild abuse to Columbus Children's Hospital.
Jim Tressel and Jeff Snook,What It Means To Be A Buckeye, "Rex Kern 1968–70", Triumph Books 2003,ISBN 1-57243-602-6