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 MEL HEIN ...Mr. Endurance |
Our Favorite Local Sports Hero: Mel Hein
of TheColumnists.com
A few months ago I was dining at a local beer and burgers establishment with a few of my friends. We sat around talking politics, sports, music, movies or whatever intriguing topic that crept into our conversation at the time. After catching a few minutes of a Seattle Mariners baseball game on the overhead screen, we turned our attention to the local sports scene in our county and the question of who might have been the greatest athlete to come through our rather insignificant hamlet on Bellingham bay.
We scratched our heads as we attempted to put together a list of sports personalities who either started in Bellingham, WA, or lingered long enough to make a mark before moving on to the bigger stage.
All was silent for a moment before someone blurted out, “Ken Griffey Jr.” He had played for the Bellingham Mariners in the late 80s and would be definitely high on our list.
The next name out the door was another baseball player by the name of Dave Henderson. He had an outstanding career and was quite obviously worthy of our list. Hall of Famer Earl Averill was quickly added along with world record discus thrower Paul Jessup and the amazing Zenders, nine logging family brothers who took their semi-pro baseball team to second place in the nation.
We prattled on for awhile until it became obvious that our name list was running out of steam. Another schooner of beer was ordered as we sat waiting for someone to come up with that one guy who seemed to elude us.
“Mel Hein!” The name tumbled from my lips along with a slosh of beer. Everyone stopped talking and stared at me. “Who’s Mel Hein?”
It was a couple of years ago that I ran into an older fellow who knew quite a bit about Mel. I was spending some time helping out at the local museum archive and I remember him saying that Mel Hein went to high school in Bellingham during the middle 1920s where he excelled in basketball, baseball and football. He attended Washington State University where he achieved All American status in football at all three interior line positions.
As the beer flowed, I continued to recount what the guy had told me at the museum. Mel joined the New York Giants in 1931 where he played both ways as a center and a linebacker. He played every minute of every game for 15 years, hence the nickname “60 minute man.” He only came out of a game once when his nose was splattered all over his face. This was the era of leather helmets, no face masks, flying elbows and sneaky punches, so it’s amazing that he didn’t get hurt more often. My guess is that the man never let pain get in the way of his job.
During his 15 years with the Giants, he was considered the heart and soul of the team. He was an eight time All Pro and was selected as the first NFL Most Valuable Player in 1938, the only interior lineman ever to win it.
In 1954, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and in 1963 he was one of the first players elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. He is part of the NFL all-time team as a center and the modern all-time college team.
At 6 feet 3 inches and 230 pounds, he was
a physical specimen for his time and tough as nails. He developed
blocking techniques that are still used today and as a linebacker
he revolutionized pass coverage from the linebacking position.
The table was silent as I finished my spiel. I was amazed at
how much I remembered. I must have retained a lot more than I
realized from my encounter at the museum.
The table was unanimous, Mel was number one. As we finished our beers and headed for the door one of my friends turned to me with a smile “A guy like that couldn’t play today, not big enough, not fast enough.”
I smiled back and said: “If it was just about strength and speed, weight lifters and sprinters would dominate the sport, they don’t. Mel was a man who played the game with passion, intelligence and toughness. It is what always separates the average from the special and Mel was special.”
©2008 by Kent Holsather. This column first posted May 26, 2008.
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