Walter Andrew Kiesling was an American football guard and tackle who spent 36 years as a player, coach, and aide with National Football League teams.
34 Facts About Walt Kiesling
2.
Walt Kiesling was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and was named to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team in 1969.
3.
Walt Kiesling then played 13 years as a guard and tackle in the NFL with the Duluth Eskimos, Pottsville Maroons, Chicago Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
4.
Walt Kiesling was a first-team All-Pro in 1929,1930, and 1932, a second-team All-Pro in 1931, and played for the Packers' 1936 NFL championship team.
5.
Walt Kiesling led the Steelers to their first winning season in 1942.
6.
Walt Kiesling served as co-coach of the wartime merger teams known as the Steagles in 1943 and Card-Pitt in 1944 and as line coach for the Pirates, Green Bay Packers, and Steelers.
7.
Walt Kiesling retired from active coaching for health reasons in 1957 but remained an aide to the Steelers coaching staff from 1957 to 1961.
8.
Walt Kiesling's father worked as a cutter in a leather works and later in a garment factory.
9.
Walt Kiesling attended Cretin High School, a Catholic high school in Saint Paul where he played football as a tackle.
10.
Walt Kiesling remained in Saint Paul for college, attending the University of St Thomas.
11.
Walt Kiesling played football at St Thomas and was selected as an all-state player for three straight years in 1923,1924, and 1925.
12.
Walt Kiesling graduated in 1926 with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics.
13.
Walt Kiesling remained in Duluth for the 1927 season, moving to the guard position and appearing in six games.
14.
Walt Kiesling joined the Pottsville Maroons for the 1927 season, starting 10 games at right guard.
15.
Walt Kiesling next joined the Chicago Cardinals where he played at the left guard position from 1929 to 1933.
16.
Walt Kiesling was the Cardinals' heaviest player, ranging from 235 to 260 pounds at six feet, three inches.
17.
Walt Kiesling appeared in 13 games for the Bears, only five as a starter.
18.
Walt Kiesling is one of the most experienced players in the pro grid game.
19.
Walt Kiesling appeared in 10 games for the Packers in 1935.
20.
Walt Kiesling appeared in eight games for the 1936 Green Bay Packers team that won the NFL championship.
21.
Walt Kiesling began his coaching career at age 34 during the 1937 season as an assistant coach under Johnny Blood for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
22.
Walt Kiesling was a player for the Pirates during the 1937 and 1938 seasons, appearing in a total of 12 games.
23.
Hours after resigning his position with the Steelers, Walt Kiesling was hired as assistant coach for the Green Bay Packers.
24.
Walt Kiesling coached the Packers' linemen, and in December 1945, he signed a contract extending his service through the 1947 season.
25.
Walt Kiesling contracted pneumonia in the winter of 1947 and lost 51 pounds while battling the illness.
26.
Walt Kiesling signed a contract extension with the Steelers in March 1950, and remained as line coach through the 1953 season.
27.
In March 1952, Walt Kiesling was hospitalized with what was described as a "heavy cold".
28.
In late August 1954, Joe Bach resigned as the Steelers' head coach after a poor showing by the team in exhibition games, and Walt Kiesling was promoted to head coach.
29.
Walt Kiesling is often remembered as the coach who released Johnny Unitas, a player widely acclaimed as one of the greatest in NFL history.
30.
Walt Kiesling remained an aide to the Steelers' coaching staff until his death.
31.
Walt Kiesling suffered from a respiratory ailment that resulted in multiple hospitalizations in his later years.
32.
Walt Kiesling died in March 1962 at age 58 at Divine Providence Hospital in Pittsburgh.
33.
Walt Kiesling was buried at Christ Our Redeemer Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
34.
Walt Kiesling was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.