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Hall of Famer
<DIV =title>LSU Athletic Hall of Famer Kenny Konz Dies, 79
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<DIV id=article_ad>(02/06/2008) BY www.LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE -- Kenny Konz, an All-Southeastern Conference halfback for the LSU Tigers in 1950 and a member of the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame, died Tuesday in Alliance, Ohio, due to complications from pneumonia.
The last living member of the great defensive backfields on the Cleveland Browns' championship teams in the 1950s under Paul Brown, Konz was 79 at the time of his death.
Konz was born in Weimar, Texas, and lived in Alliance, Ohio, the last two years. He is survived by his wife, Sue, of 30 years; daughter Charlene, and two grandchildren.
Konz was a two-way halfback at LSU from 1948 to 1950, earning All-SEC honors his senior season. In the final game of the 1949 season he triggered a 21-0 upset win over heavily favored Tulane with a stirring punt return for a touchdown that shocked the Greenies. He returned three punts that day for a total of 125 yards, still among the top 10 punt return games in the history of LSU football.
Konz was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. He was also a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
A first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 1951, he joined the team in 1953 after serving as a lieutenant in the Air Force. He played seven seasons, all with the Browns, before retiring after the 1959 campaign.
Konz helped lead a secondary that played a big role in the Browns winning two NFL championships and advancing to two other title games during his career.
Along with his work on the defense, Konz was also an excellent return specialist and led the NFL in average yards per punt return in 1956 with a 14.4 mark, a feat of which he remained most proud right up until the end.
Konz was selected to one Pro Bowl, following the 1954 season in which the Browns routed the Detroit Lions 56-10 in the championship game. The 1955 team also won a crown, 38-14 over the Los Angeles Rams.
Born Kenneth Earl Konz on Sept. 25, 1928 in tiny Weimar, Texas, he had a tough upbringing. Left fatherless at the age of 4, Konz, while in elementary school, delivered newspapers before going to school in the morning and then swept out a bank after school to help his mother support the family.
At the age of 14, he was a ranch hand, and two years later, he worked in a cotton field.
Though he played only six-man football at Weimar High School, where all 12 grades in the district were housed in one building, he still stood out enough to earn a scholarship to LSU. It was there that he saw his first standard football game.
While playing with the Tigers, he was selected All-Southeastern Conference in 1950 and was hailed as one of the greatest all-around halfbacks in school history. Following his senior season, he was selected to play in three all-star games, and chose to go the Blue-Gray contest and the Senior Bowl.
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<DIV id=article_ad>(02/06/2008) BY www.LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE -- Kenny Konz, an All-Southeastern Conference halfback for the LSU Tigers in 1950 and a member of the LSU Athletic Hall of Fame, died Tuesday in Alliance, Ohio, due to complications from pneumonia.
The last living member of the great defensive backfields on the Cleveland Browns' championship teams in the 1950s under Paul Brown, Konz was 79 at the time of his death.
Konz was born in Weimar, Texas, and lived in Alliance, Ohio, the last two years. He is survived by his wife, Sue, of 30 years; daughter Charlene, and two grandchildren.
Konz was a two-way halfback at LSU from 1948 to 1950, earning All-SEC honors his senior season. In the final game of the 1949 season he triggered a 21-0 upset win over heavily favored Tulane with a stirring punt return for a touchdown that shocked the Greenies. He returned three punts that day for a total of 125 yards, still among the top 10 punt return games in the history of LSU football.
Konz was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. He was also a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
A first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 1951, he joined the team in 1953 after serving as a lieutenant in the Air Force. He played seven seasons, all with the Browns, before retiring after the 1959 campaign.
Konz helped lead a secondary that played a big role in the Browns winning two NFL championships and advancing to two other title games during his career.
Along with his work on the defense, Konz was also an excellent return specialist and led the NFL in average yards per punt return in 1956 with a 14.4 mark, a feat of which he remained most proud right up until the end.
Konz was selected to one Pro Bowl, following the 1954 season in which the Browns routed the Detroit Lions 56-10 in the championship game. The 1955 team also won a crown, 38-14 over the Los Angeles Rams.
Born Kenneth Earl Konz on Sept. 25, 1928 in tiny Weimar, Texas, he had a tough upbringing. Left fatherless at the age of 4, Konz, while in elementary school, delivered newspapers before going to school in the morning and then swept out a bank after school to help his mother support the family.
At the age of 14, he was a ranch hand, and two years later, he worked in a cotton field.
Though he played only six-man football at Weimar High School, where all 12 grades in the district were housed in one building, he still stood out enough to earn a scholarship to LSU. It was there that he saw his first standard football game.
While playing with the Tigers, he was selected All-Southeastern Conference in 1950 and was hailed as one of the greatest all-around halfbacks in school history. Following his senior season, he was selected to play in three all-star games, and chose to go the Blue-Gray contest and the Senior Bowl.