Ken Simendinger

Who is Ken Simendinger?

Kenneth Alphonse Simendinger was a professional football player in the National Football League for the Hartford Blues in 1926. He also played for the Waterbury-Hartford Blues in 1924, prior to that team's entry into the NFL. He was also a head college basketball coach at his alma mater, Holy Cross from 1924 until 1925. Simendiger was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1899 where he attended LaSalle College High School Preparatory School.

At Holy Cross, Simendinger played three years of college football and baseball. He hit two home runs and a double in his baseball debut against Dartmouth College, earning him the nickname the “Babe Ruth of the Eastern Intercollegiates.” Simendinger is the only Crusader coach to have served for just one season, as he then became football coach at Gonzaga High School in Washington D.C. where his team went undefeated and unscored upon in 1927. He was inducted into the College of The Holy Cross Crusader Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1958.

Mr Simendinger then went on to an outstanding coaching and teaching career at Northeast Catholic High School for boys in his home town of Philadelphia.