Place of birth Omaha, Nebraska Positions Halfback Role American football player | Name Mort Kaer College USC | |
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Date of birth (1902-09-07)September 7, 1902 Date of death January 11, 1992(1992-01-11) (aged 89) Place of death Mount Shasta, California 1931 Frankford Yellow Jackets Died January 11, 1992, Mount Shasta, California, United States Education University of Southern California | ||
Morton Armour "Mort" Kaer (September 7, 1902 – January 11, 1992), nicknamed "Devil May," was a world-famous athlete, as a track star and All-American collegiate and professional American football player.
He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and died in Mount Shasta, California.
At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, he placed fifth in the Olympic pentathlon competition. The pentathlon, a track and field event comprising five events: the 200 metres, 1500 metres, discus, javelin, and long jump.
Then came three great years as a halfback for the USC Trojans, 1924 to 1926. In 1925, he set a school record by scoring 19 touchdowns, which led the nation that year, tying Peggy Flournoy's mark. The record lasted 43 years, broken in 1968 by O. J. Simpson. In Kaer's three years he had 36 touchdowns, a career record for the school, tied by Simpson in 1967 and 1968 (Simpson did it in two years). He was elected All-American in 1926.
Five years after his college career, Kaer played one year of professional football, 1931, with the Frankford Yellow Jackets of the National Football League. He became coach at Weed High School in Weed, California, where he accumulated a record of 187–47–7 over 28 years in which his teams won 17 conference championships.
He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.