Walter S. Kennedy

Walter Scott Kennedy ( – April 28, 1954) was an American college football player and coach, college basketball coach, and newspaper publisher. He was an All-American quarterback for the University of Chicago and captain of the Chicago Maroons football teams in 1898 and 1899. Kennedy later moved to Albion, Michigan, where he was the publisher of the Albion Evening Recorder from 1904 to 1939. There he was also the head football coach at Albion College for three stints between 1904 and 1920 and school's head basketball coach from 1910 to 1913.

Biography Early years Kennedy was born in Woodburn, Iowa, in approximately 1873. He played high school football at Villisca, Iowa. At the time of his election as team captain, the Chicago Daily Tribune wrote: "In guarding the men who carry the ball and in breaking up the interference of the opposing team he is unsurpassed in the West, and is a hard man to stop when he himself advances the ball." Several additional letters were received, raising questions about Kennedy's past, including his baseball record.

In February 1899, Caspar Whitney renewed the controversy over Kennedy's eligibility in an article published in Harper's Weekly. Whitney had secured a copy of the Western Conference rules and argued that Kennedy, having played college football at Tarkio College for at least one season, was not eligible to play a fourth year of varsity football for Chicago. n 1929, a columnist in the Chicago Daily Tribune wrote that the undefeated 1899 team was considered one of the two greatest Chicago football teams of all time.

Because of the boycott of Chicago, the 1899 season ended with uncertainty as to whether Chicago or Wisconsin had fielded the best team in the West. Wisconsin agreed to a postseason championship game against Chicago. The game, played on December 9, was Kennedy's last game for Chicago. The Maroons won the game, 17–0, and Kennedy later described the game as his "greatest thrill in football." The game matched the punting skills of Wisconsin's Pat O'Dea against Kennedy's punting. Kennedy was forced to punt from Chicago's ten-yard line, and Kennedy kicked the ball as he was being thrown to the ground by Wisconsin end Eddie Cochems. The kick proved to be the longest punt of Kennedy's career. At the end of the 1899 season, he was selected as a first-team All-American by The Philadelphia Inquirer. He was selected as an All-Western player at either halfback or quarterback three straight years from 1897 to 1899.

Kennedy served three stints at the head football coach at Albion College—from 1904 to 1905, 1908 to 1912, and 1915 to 1920—leading his teams to a record of 57–23–8 and five Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) championships in 14 seasons. He was also the head basketball coach at Albion from 1910 to 1913, tallying a mark of 17–15 in three seasons.

Kennedy died at age 79, on April 28, 1954, in Albion.

Head coaching record Football