Position(s) FullbackHalfback | Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) Name Johnny Kitzmiller | |
Date of birth (1904-11-25)November 25, 1904 Date of death April 26, 1986(1986-04-26) (aged 81) | ||
John Wesley "Dutch" Kitzmiller (November 25, 1904 – April 26, 1986) was an American football player. He played college football at the University of Oregon and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.
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College career
A halfback from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Kitzmiller had planned to attend the United States Military Academy and play for coach John McEwan's football team. However, just as Kitzmiller was about to enroll, McEwan was hired as the coach of the University of Oregon Ducks and Kitzmiller followed him to Oregon.
At Oregon, Kitzmiller led the team to national prominence, with the team winning 23 of 30 games, including two losses suffered after Kitzmiller broke his leg in the 1929 Civil War. In addition to halfback, Kitzmiller also played defensive back and placekicker, and twice earned all-Pacific Coast Conference honors. His nickname "The Flying Dutchman" was from his spectacular tackles made though he weighed just 165 pounds (75 kg).
After college
Kitzmiller played one season as a fullback with the New York Giants in 1931, then returned to Oregon as an assistant coach from 1932 to 1935. He served in the Army Air Force in India during World War II, returning to Oregon's Willamette Valley after the war to establish a manufacturing company. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969, the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.
Kitzmiller died in Oregon in 1986.