15 Facts About Rex Bumgardner

Rex Keith Bumgardner was a halfback in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League for the Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Rex Bumgardner attended West Virginia University following a stint in the military during World War II, playing on the school's football team in 1946 and 1947.

Rex Bumgardner then started his professional career with the Bills of the AAFC, where he remained for two seasons before joining the Browns in 1950.

Rex Bumgardner stayed with the Browns until 1953, when the team sold him to the Baltimore Colts.

Rex Bumgardner retired after the Colts cut him and went back to West Virginia, where he worked as a sheriff and US marshal for several decades.

Rex Bumgardner grew up in Clarksburg, West Virginia and attended the local Victory High School.

Rex Bumgardner played on a basketball team at Victory that won the state scholastic championship in 1941 under head coach Howard "Doc" Hutson.

Rex Bumgardner was a substitute in 1946, but led the team in rushing in 1947.

Rex Bumgardner was signed by the Buffalo Bills of the All-America Football Conference before the 1948 season.

The AAFC dissolved after the 1949 season, and Rex Bumgardner joined the Browns, who had merged into the National Football League.

Rex Bumgardner stayed with the Browns for the 1951 and 1952 seasons, both of which ended with losses in the NFL championship game.

Rex Bumgardner moved back to West Virginia after his football career and started a job as the deputy sheriff to his mother, who was the sheriff in the Clarksburg area.

Rex Bumgardner later was hired as the treasurer and sheriff of Marion County, West Virginia before becoming a US marshal overseeing 32 counties in the northern part of the state in 1965.

Rex Bumgardner served as a marshal until resigning in 1976 to run for Harrison County sheriff.

Rex Bumgardner had two sons with his first wife and two more sons with his second wife, Judy.