Strong, "Ken" (Elmer Kenneth)
Football
b. Aug. 6, 1906, West Haven, CT
d. Oct. 5, 1979
One of the most versatile football players ever, Strong was an unusually big halfback for his time, at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds. At New York University, he was used mostly as a blocker in his sophomore season, 1926. The following year, he was the team's top runner, passer, punter, and place kicker, and he also excelled on defense.
He captained the 1928 NYU team that lost only one game. Strong led the nation in scoring with 160 points on 22 touchdowns and 28 conversions. In a 27-13 win over previously unbeaten Carnegie Tech, he scored two touchdowns, one on a 40-yard run, and passed for two. He had three touchdowns, including a 77-yard run, and threw a touchdown pass in NYU's 27-6 victory over the University of Missouri.
After being named to most 1928 All-American teams, Strong joined the Staten Island Stapletons of the NFL in 1929. It wasn't a very good team, winning just 10 games while losing 16 and tying 8 during his four seasons, but Strong was among the league's scoring leaders each year.
The Stapletons folded after the 1932 season and Strong went to the New York Giants. He led the league in scoring in 1933 with 64 points on 6 touchdowns, 8 extra points, and 4 field goals. He was an All-Pro halfback in 1934, when the Giants won the NFL championship. In their 30-13 victory over the Chicago Bears to win the title, Strong scored two touchdowns, one of them on a 41-yard run; kicked two extra points; and had a 38-yard field goal for a total of 17 points, a playoff record at the time.
After the 1935 season, the Giants wanted to cut his pay, so he went to the New York Yanks of the new American Football League. The NFL blacklisted him for the move. The AFL folded after two seasons and Strong didn't play in 1938, but the blacklist was lifted and he returned to the Giants in 1939, primarily as a placekicker.
He retired in 1940. But in 1944 the Giants asked him to come back because of the World War II manpower shortage. He became football's first placekicking specialist. He didn't wear shoulder pads and didn't even usually take off his watch for four more seasons of pro football. He retired for good after the 1947 season as the NFL's second leading career scorer, with 496 points on 35 touchdowns, 169 extra points, and 39 field goals.