Shipwreck Kelly (American football)

John "Shipwreck" Kelly

No. 44     Kentucky Wildcats
File:Shipwreckkelly.jpg 220px
Date of birth	(1910-07-08)July 8, 1910
Place of birth	Simstown, Kentucky
Date of death
Place of death	Lighthouse Point, Florida
Career information
Position(s)	Halfback
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)
College	University of Kentucky
Career history
As player
1932	New York Giants
1933–1937	Brooklyn Dodgers
Career highlights and awards
All-Southern (1929, 1930, 1931)
Career stats
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

John Simms "Shipwreck" Kelly (July 8, 1910 – August 17, 1986) was a professional American football player who played halfback in the National Football League; he was also an owner and banker, most prominent in New York City in the 1930s and 1940s. He played five seasons for the New York Giants (1932) and the Brooklyn Dodgers (1933–1937). Kelly became a player-coach and later a player/coach/owner with the Dodgers football club, the successor to the Dayton Triangles, a charter member of the NFL. He gained his nickname from his ability, while at the University of Kentucky, to make a "shipwreck" of opposing defensive lines, or from Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly, who was famous for pole-sitting in the 1920s. He was a relative of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms.

Biography

He was frequently in attendance at the Stork Club, "21" and El Morocco.

Kelly at Kentucky.

At age 23, Kelly became a player/coach and later a player/coach/owner with the Dodgers football club, which he bought with a partner, Dan Topping. The Dodgers football club was the successor to the Dayton Triangles, a charter member of the NFL.

Kelly was married in 1941, in New York City, to the "Millionaire Debutante" Brenda Frazier, after whom the long-running comic strip Brenda Starr was named. The couple bought a new Packard Darrin convertible from the New York Auto Show, and travelled around NYC with people such as Jock Whitney and Tom Kerrigan. They were married for fifteen years, and had one daughter, Brenda Victoria. In 1956, he married Catherine Hannon. They had a son, John Kelly, who was in the Winter Olympics in 1980.

During World War II, Kelly was recruited by the FBI to travel to Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Argentina to track the activities of wealthy German expatriates helping the Nazi cause.

After the war, Kelly pursued a career as an investment banker, Florida real estate investor and became a champion amateur golfer. He played golf with the Duke of Windsor and Richard Nixon. He was also a big game hunter. He died of a stroke at age 76 and is buried in his home town of Simstown, Kentucky.

External links

• Shipwreck Kelly at Find a Grave