Mel Hein

His father, Herman Hein (1886-1940), was a California native of German and Dutch ancestry who worked as an electrician for a power house operator.

His mother, Charlotte Hein (1887-1967), was a California native of English and German ancestry.

Melvin Jack Hein (August 22, 1909 – January 31, 1992), nicknamed "Old Indestructible", was an American football player and coach.

Hein was born in 1909 at Redding in Shasta County, California.

As of 1910, the family was living at Round Mountain, about 30 miles northeast of Redding.

By 1920, the family was living in Glacier in Whatcom County, Washington, where Hein's father was working as a lineman on transmission lines.

Hein had an older brother, Lloyd, and two younger brothers, Homer and Clayton.

The family later moved to Fairhaven and Burlington, where Hein's father worked as an insurance agent and where Hein attended both Fairhaven and Burlington High Schools.

He also played basketball as a center at Burlington High.

In 1927, Hein enrolled at Washington State College in Pullman joined Sigma Nu fraternity and played center for the Cougars from 1928 to 1930.

Hein played college football as a center for the Washington State Cougars from 1928 to 1930, leading the 1930 team to the 1931 Rose Bowl after an undefeated regular season.

He received first-team All-Pacific Coast and All-American honors.

With Hein as the starting center, the Cougars compiled a 10–2 record in 1929 and 9–1 in 1930.

The 1930 team won the Pacific Coast Conference championship and were undefeated in the regular season, but fell to Alabama in the Rose Bowl.

Hein played all sixty minutes of the Cougars' victories over California and USC on October 4 and 11.

At the end of his senior year, Hein was selected by the Associated Press and United Press as the first-team center on the All-Pacific Coast team.

He was also 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.

While at Washington State, Hein also played for three years (freshman, sophomore, and junior years) on the basketball team and for one year on the Cougars track team as a freshman.

Hein next played fifteen seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants from 1931 to 1945.

In 1931, 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.

He played for 15 years as a center and a defensive lineman.

He 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.

Hein was a first-team All-Pro center eight straight years from 1933 to 1940.

Hein was also a member of five Giants teams that lost NFL championship games — 1933, 1935, 1939, 1941, and 1944.

Hein had planned to retire after a dozen years in the NFL and become the head coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York.

He was the starting center on NFL championship teams in 1934 and 1938 and played in seven NFL championship games (1933–1935, 1938–1939, 1941, and 1944).

He was the starting center on two NFL championship teams — in 1934 (NYG 30, Chicago 13) and again in 1938 (NYG 23, Green Bay 17).

He was also selected as the NFL's most valuable player in 1938 which he is still the only Offensive Lineman to ever win the award.

Hein also 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 (AAFC) 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.

He began coaching in 1943 as the head football coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York.

For the next three years, he held that position, though the 1943 and 1945 Union College teams had their seasons cancelled due to the disruption of losing many players to World War II.

In 1944, the team compiled an 0–5 record, as Hein coached the team on Saturdays and played for the Giants on Sundays.

When Union's program went on hiatus due to World War II, Hein returned to the Giants on weekends for three more seasons and retired after the 1945 season.

Hein worked as a football coach and league administrator for more than 30 years.

In 1946, Hein continued as Union College's head coach after retiring from the Giants.

He led the 1946 team to a 3–5 record.

In March 1947, Hein was hired as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

In the era of one-platoon football, he played as a center (then a position on both offense and defense) and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 as part of the first class of inductees.

He was also the supervisor of officials for the American Football League (AFL) from 1966 to 1969 and for the American Football Conference (AFC) from 1970 to 1974.

He was also named to the National Football League (NFL) 75th, and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams.