Jackie Kemp, RIP

[GA Russell]

In 1961, living in Seattle we got the San Diego Charger games on TV, so I got to see Jackie Kemp run Sid Gillman's offense every week. Great games! The next year he broke his thumb, and the Chargers put him on the wrong (non-recallable) injured list. The Bills claimed him for $100, and he went on to lead the Bills to AFL championships, and then on to Congress. Some of the most exciting games I have seen were between the Bills and the Boston Patriots in the 1963-65 period.

Here's his AP obituary:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518721,00.html

AP

Jack Kemp, a former quarterback, congressman and one-time vice-presidential nominee, has died.

WASHINGTON — Jack Kemp, the ex-football star, congressman, one-time Republican vice-presidential nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative" died Saturday.

His spokeswoman Bona Park and longtime friend and former campaign adviser Edwin J. Feulner confirmed that Kemp died after a lengthy illness.

Kemp had announced in January 2009 that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He said he was undergoing tests but gave no other detail.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called Kemp "one of the nation's most distinguished public servants, Jack was a powerful voice in American politics for more than four decades."

Kemp, a former quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, represented western New York for nine terms in Congress, leaving the House of Representatives for an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988.

Eight years later, after serving a term as President George H.W. Bush's housing secretary, he made it onto the national ticket as Bob Dole's running-mate.

With that loss, the Republican bowed out of political office, but not out of politics. In speaking engagements and a syndicated column, he continued to advocate for the tax reform and supply-side policies — the idea that the more taxes are cut the more the economy will grow — that he pioneered.

Kemp's rapid and wordy style made the enthusiastic speaker with the neatly side-parted white hair a favorite on the lecture circuit, and a millionaire. (His style didn't win over everyone. In his memoirs, former Vice President Dan Quayle wrote that at Cabinet meetings, Bush would be irked by Kemp's habit of going off on tangents and not making "any discernible point.")

Kemp also signed on with numerous educational and corporate boards and charitable organizations, including National Football League Charities, which kept him connected to his football roots.

Kemp was a 17th round 1957 NFL draft pick by the Detroit Lions but was cut before the season began. After being released by three more NFL teams and the Canadian Football League over the next three years, he joined the American Football League's Los Angeles Chargers as a free agent in 1960. Two years later he landed with the Buffalo Bills, who got him at the bargain basement price of $100.

Edited May 2, 2009 by GA Russell

[GA Russell]

Here's more of the AP obit which I found today.

I remember it was said (by the Democrats in the press) after he got into politics that Kemp had showered with more blacks than most Republicans had shaken hands with!

By the way, it was the Calgary Stampeders whom Kemp played for in the Canadian league. I think he was a backup for one season.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090503/D97UKOP81.html

Kemp led Buffalo to the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championships, and won the league's most valuable player award in 1965. He co-founded the AFL Players Association in 1964 and was elected president of the union for five terms. When he retired from football in 1969, Kemp had enough support in blue-collar Buffalo and its suburbs to win an open congressional seat.

In 11 seasons, he sustained a dozen concussions, two broken ankles and a crushed hand - which Kemp insisted a doctor permanently set in a passing position so that he could continue to play.

"Pro football gave me a good perspective," he was quoted as saying. "When I entered the political arena, I had already been booed, cheered, cut, sold, traded, and hung in effigy."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said "Kemp was an extraordinary American leader who became a trusted colleague and exceptional friend to countless NFL owners, team personnel and commissioners after his MVP playing career with the Buffalo Bills."

Kemp was born in California to Christian Scientist parents. He worked on the loading docks of his father's trucking company as a boy before majoring in physical education at Occidental College, where he led the nation's small colleges in passing.

He became a Presbyterian after marrying his college sweetheart, Joanne Main. The couple had four children, including two sons who played professional football. He joined with a son and son-in-law to form a Washington strategic consulting firm, Kemp Partners, after leaving office.

Through his political life, Kemp's positions spanned the social spectrum: He opposed abortion and supported school prayer, yet appealed to liberals with his outreach toward minorities and compassion for the poor. He pushed for immigration reform to include a guest-worker program and status for the illegal immigrants already here.

[Jazzmoose]

Kemp's playing days were before my time; I didn't discover football until the '66 season, and certainly didn't watch minor leagues like the AFL. Heck, I'm not sure I even knew any AFL players until that cocky upstart Namath claimed his team would win the superbowl.

[GA Russell]

Kemp's playing days were before my time; I didn't discover football until the '66 season, and certainly didn't watch minor leagues like the AFL. Heck, I'm not sure I even knew any AFL players until that cocky upstart Namath claimed his team would win the superbowl.

Moose, you missed out! The AFL's games were much more exciting than the NFL's, but I noticed a dropoff when the two leagues merged their player draft before the '67 season. In fairness to the NFL, it was (and still is) my opinion that the AFL's TV announcers, like Charlie Jones, Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman, were much better than the NFL's CBS guys, who were pretty boring.

It was the AFL games (on ABC) that originated the use of what was called the "isolated camera". That was Roone Arlidge's idea. It was the video replay (a new invention starting in '62) that focused on a wide receiver, and showed him running his route and catching the ball. CBS called its video the "instant replay", and just showed the play with pretty much all 22 guys.

By the way, I read a book about the AFL last year called Going Long, and it said something that I didn't know - The AFL on a pro rata basis signed just as many first round draft picks as the NFL did. Of course there were 14 NFL teams and only 8 AFL teams, so the NFL signed more.