1. Kenneth William Kavanaugh was an American football player, coach, and scout.
29 Facts About Ken Kavanaugh
1. 2.
Ken Kavanaugh played professionally in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears as an end from 1940 to 1950, except for three seasons during which he served in World War II.
3.
Ken Kavanaugh led the league in receiving touchdowns twice, and is a member of the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team.
4.
Ken Kavanaugh is the Bears' all-time leader in receiving touchdowns, with 50.
5.
Ken Kavanaugh retired with the second most receiving touchdowns in NFL history and was the second to reach 50 touchdowns in NFL history.
6.
Ken Kavanaugh was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
7.
Ken Kavanaugh graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1936.
8.
Ken Kavanaugh arrived at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1936 and joined the LSU football varsity team in 1937.
9.
The pattern continued against Loyola and Vanderbilt, as Ken Kavanaugh found two nails before each game and in each scored two touchdowns.
10.
Ken Kavanaugh was a consensus All-America selection for the 1939 All-America Team, being named to the team by five of the nine official selectors.
11.
Ken Kavanaugh was awarded the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy by the Washington DC Touchdown Club as the nation's lineman of the year, and finished seventh in Heisman Trophy balloting.
12.
Ken Kavanaugh later signed with the NFL's Chicago Bears after striking a deal with Bears owner George Halas for $300 a game.
13.
Ken Kavanaugh played for the Bears during a period in which they were nicknamed the Monsters of the Midway.
14.
Ken Kavanaugh caught the game's only touchdown pass, a 30-yard reception from quarterback Sid Luckman shortly before halftime.
15.
Ken Kavanaugh's career was interrupted by World War II, in which he was a pilot in the European theater.
16.
Ken Kavanaugh was a member of the Eighth Air Force's 490th Bombardment Group and 851st Bombardment Squadron, and attained the rank of captain.
17.
Ken Kavanaugh flew 30 missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters.
18.
Ken Kavanaugh had career highs with 32 receptions, 881 yards, and 13 touchdowns.
19.
Ken Kavanaugh set a Bears record by recording a receiving touchdown in seven straight games, a streak that began with a three-touchdown game against the Boston Yanks in week six.
20.
Ken Kavanaugh's 13 receiving touchdowns led the league, and he earned his second straight first-team All-NFL selection from the United Press.
21.
Ken Kavanaugh was named to his third straight All-NFL first-team in 1948, and he again led the league in receiving touchdowns in 1949, with nine.
22.
Ken Kavanaugh spent the majority of his career catching passes from quarterbacks Sid Luckman and Johnny Lujack.
23.
Ken Kavanaugh remains the Bears' career leader in touchdown receptions, with 50.
24.
Ken Kavanaugh holds franchise records for highest career and single season yards-per-reception.
25.
In 1969, Ken Kavanaugh was voted by sportswriters to the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team.
26.
Ken Kavanaugh was hired by Boston College in 1952 to serve in the same position, until his resignation in 1954.
27.
Ken Kavanaugh became a scout for the Giants in 1971, serving until his retirement from football in 1999.
28.
Ken Kavanaugh was drafted by the Giants in the 1972 NFL draft but did not play professionally.
29.
Ken Kavanaugh died of complications from pneumonia on January 25,2007, in Sarasota, Florida.