Bruiser Kinard

Kinard was born in Pelahatchie, Mississippi, in 1914. His father Major Henry Kinard and mother Pearl (Wooley) Kinard were both Mississippi natives. a laborer, and the proprietor of a lunch room in Utica, Mississippi. Kinard began high school as a freshman at Rolling Fork High School and then played his sophomore through senior years at Central High School in Jackson, Mississippi. Kinard had four brothers and two sisters. Two of his younger brothers, George Kinard and Billy Kinard, also played professional football. ==College career==

Kinard attended the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), lettered for the Ole Miss Rebels from 1935 to 1937 and served as co-captain of the 1937 Ole Miss squad. During his three years at Ole Miss, Kinard appeared in all 34 games and averaged 55 minutes per game. During one season, he played all 60 minutes in nine games. He was the first player from Ole Miss (indeed, from any school in Mississippi) to receive first-team All-American honors. He was also selected by both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) as a first-team player on the 1936 All-SEC football team. • In 1937, Kinard was selected by the UP, INS, Newspaper Enterprise Association, ''Collyer's Eye, and The Sporting News'' as a first-team All-American. He was also again a consensus pick by the AP and UP for the All-SEC team. • Kinard also played in the 1938 Chicago College All-Star Game, the first Ole Miss player to receive that honor. Kinard was an above-average student at Ole Miss, president of the sophomore class, and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. He graduated from Ole Miss in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science degree in commerce. ==Professional and military career==

Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers Kinard was selected by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the third round (18th overall pick) of the 1938 NFL draft. He made $1,974 as a rookie, a sum that Kinard recalled "was a lot of money back then." Joe Stydahar, a fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee who played against Kinard, recalled: "The Brooklyn team used to have plays designed just for the blocking of Kinard. They'd get Frank out there against a defender and he'd just mow them down." Kinard spent seven seasons with the Dodgers from 1938 to 1944 and developed a reputation as one of the toughest and most durable players in the NFL. According to his Pro Football Hall of Fame biography, he "rarely needed a rest and near-60-minute performances were the rule, rather than the exception." He appeared as a starter at tackle in every game for the Dodgers in 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944. During his seven years in the NFL, he missed only two games, Navy/Fleet City After the Dodgers winless 1944 season, Kinard enlisted in the United States Navy in April 1945. He served until March 1946. Kinard and his brother, George, played at tackle and guard, respectively, for the Fleet City Bluejackets football team based at Camp Shoemaker in Dublin, California. Kinard was named to the All-Service football team selected by West Coast sports writers in December 1945. New York Yankees In January 1946, Dan Topping, owner of the New York Yankees of the newly-formed All-America Football Conference (AAFC), signed the Kinard brothers and four others from the Navy's Fleet City football team. Bruiser Kinard started all 14 games for Yankees in 1946, At the end of the 1946 season, Kinard was selected by the AP, UP, and AAFC as a first-team All-AAFC player. Honors and awards Kinard received numerous honors and awards for his accomplishments as a football player, notably including induction into the two major football halls of fame. He was inducted as a charter member into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, Other significant awards and honors include: • In 1949, he was named to the All-America Board's all-time football team, receiving more votes than any other tackle. • In 1950, the Mississippian, the Ole Miss campus newspaper selected Kinard as the greatest Ole Miss athlete of all time. • In 1953, he was honored by Ole Miss with a "Bruiser Kinard Day" in celebration of Kinard's induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. The Governor of Mississippi also declared a "Frank M. (Bruiser) Kinard Day" throughout the State of Mississippi. • In 1955, he was inducted into the Helms Athletic Foundation's Helms College Football Hall of Fame. • In 1961, he was inducted as one of four charter members into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (along with Edwin Hale, Dudy Noble, and Stanley L. Robinson). • In 1969, as part of football's centennial celebration, the Football Writers Association of America selected an all-time All-America team covering the sport's modern era from 1920 to 1969. Kinard was selected at the tackle position. • In 1971, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame • In 1986, Ole Miss inducted Kinard posthumously into the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame and also named its men's athletic dormitory as Kinard Hall in his honor. • In 1993, as part of Ole Miss' celebration of its first 100 years of football, the school named its Ole Miss Team of the Century. Kinard was included as a defensive lineman. • In 1999, he was one of 83 college football players named to the Walter Camp Football Foundation's All-Century team. ==Coaching and administrative career==

In February 1948, Kinard was hired as the line coach at Ole Miss under Johnny Vaught. He remained on Vaught's staff for 21 years. During the 12-year span from 1952 to 1963, Ole Miss won six SEC championships and was ranked in the top 11 of the final AP Poll 10 times, including No. 2 finishes in 1959 and 1960 and a No. 3 finish in 1962. Kinard had offers to become a head coach in the NFL for the Boston Patriots and New York Giants, but opted to stay at Ole Miss. In six games under Kinard, the 1970 Rebels won three games and lost three, including losses to rivals Mississippi State and LSU and to Auburn in the 1971 Gator Bowl. However, Ole Miss credits the entire 1970 season to Vaught. In January 1971, Ole Miss hired Kinard as its athletic director and his younger brother Billy Kinard as its head football coach. In 1971, the Kinards led the 1971 Ole Miss team to a 10–2 record and a No. 15 ranking in the final AP Poll. However, the team's fortunes declined in 1972 with a 5–5 record. In September 1973, after Ole Miss lost two of the first three games, the university fired Billy Kinard as head coach and relieved Bruiser of his duties as athletic director. Bruiser remained employed by Ole Miss and was appointed assistant dean of student personnel in June 1974. He held that position until he retired in 1978. ==Family and later years==

Kinard married Mildred Frances "Midge" Kirk (1915–2006) in 1933 while they were seniors in high school. They had two sons, Frank Jr. and John. In 1982, Kinard and his wife moved from Oxford, Mississippi, to Jackson, Mississippi, where they lived until Kinard's death. He died in 1985 at age 70 at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Jackson. He was buried at Lakewood Memorial Park in Jackson. ==References==