1. Mel Hein was named to the National Football League 75th, and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams.
36 Facts About Mel Hein
1. 2.
Mel Hein next played fifteen seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants from 1931 to 1945.
3.
Mel Hein was selected as a first-team All-Pro for eight consecutive years from 1933 to 1940 and won the Joe F Carr Trophy as the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1938.
4.
Mel Hein was the starting center on NFL championship teams in 1934 and 1938 and played in seven NFL championship games.
5.
Mel Hein served as the head football coach at Union College from 1943 to 1946 and as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference from 1947 to 1948, the New York Yankees of the AAFC in 1949, the Los Angeles Rams in 1950, and the USC Trojans from 1951 to 1965.
6.
Mel Hein was the supervisor of officials for the American Football League from 1966 to 1969 and for the American Football Conference from 1970 to 1974.
7.
Mel Hein was born in 1909 at Redding in Shasta County, California.
8.
Mel Hein's father, Herman Hein, was a California native of German and Dutch ancestry who worked as an electrician for a power house operator.
9.
Mel Hein's mother, Charlotte Hein, was a California native of English and German ancestry.
10.
Mel Hein had an older brother, Lloyd, and two younger brothers, Homer and Clayton.
11.
The family later moved to Fairhaven and Burlington, where Mel Hein's father worked as an insurance agent and where Mel Hein attended both Fairhaven and Burlington High Schools.
12.
Mel Hein played basketball as a center at Burlington High.
13.
In 1927, Mel Hein enrolled at Washington State College in Pullman joined Sigma Nu fraternity and played center for the Cougars from 1928 to 1930.
14.
Mel Hein was selected by the Central Press as the first-team center, and by the All-America Board in a tie for the first-team center position, on the All-American team.
15.
In 1931, Mel Hein signed a contract with the New York Giants, married his college sweetheart, and packed all of their belongings into a 1929 Ford and drove from Pullman to New York.
16.
Mel Hein played for 15 years as a center and a defensive lineman.
17.
Mel Hein was a first-team All-Pro center eight straight years from 1933 to 1940.
18.
Mel Hein was selected as the NFL's most valuable player in 1938 which he is still the only Offensive Lineman to ever win the award.
19.
Mel Hein had planned to retire after a dozen years in the NFL and become the head coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York.
20.
When Union's program went on hiatus due to World War II, Mel Hein returned to the Giants on weekends for three more seasons and retired after the 1945 season.
21.
Mel Hein worked as a football coach and league administrator for more than 30 years.
22.
Mel Hein began coaching in 1943 as the head football coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York.
23.
In 1946, Mel Hein continued as Union College's head coach after retiring from the Giants.
24.
In March 1947, Mel Hein was hired as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference.
25.
Mel Hein served initially under head coach Dudley DeGroot on the 1947 Dons team.
26.
However, on November 18,1947, DeGroot was fired as head coach, and assistant coaches Mel Hein and Ted Shipkey were appointed as co-coaches to lead the team for the final three games of the season.
27.
The Yankees' forward wall, which was coached by Mel Hein, was rated as the toughest in the AAFC.
28.
Mel Hein returned to Los Angeles in 1950 as the line coach for the Los Angeles Rams.
29.
Mel Hein left the Rams in February 1951 to join the USC Trojans football team as its line coach under head coach Jess Hill.
30.
Mel Hein remained with the Trojans for 15 years through the 1965 season.
31.
In June 1966, Mel Hein was hired by commissioner Al Davis as the supervisor of officials for the American Football League.
32.
Mel Hein remained in that position from 1966 to 1969 and continued thereafter as the supervisor of officials for the American Football Conference from 1970 to 1974.
33.
Mel Hein retired in May 1974 after more than 45 years in college and professional football.
34.
Mel Hein received numerous honors for his accomplishments as a football player.
35.
Mel Hein was married in August 1931 to Florence Emma Porter of Pullman, Washington.
36.
Mel Hein died of stomach cancer in 1992 at age 82 at his home in San Clemente.