John Kimbrough

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John Kimbrough (1918-2006) was a college athlete, a member of the Texas Legislature, the star of two western movies and a rancher.

Kimbrough, an alumnus of Texas A&M University, was known as the "Haskell Hurricane" when he played on that school's football team. He played fullback on the Aggie's undefeated 1939 national championship team. He was 6-2, 212 pounds and was a punishing runner who ran with high knee action. He had speed as well as size and could run the century in close to 10 seconds flat.

In 1940 he finished second to the University of Michigan's Tom Harmon in Heisman Trophy balloting. Kimbrough was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.

Kimbrough parlayed his gridiron fame and athletic good looks into a Hollywood contract, though he only appeared in two Hollywood westerns: Sundown Jim and Lonestar Ranger, both released in 1942.

He later served as an Army pilot in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

Kimbrough was elected to the Texas Legislature in 1953, though he only served one term. He later played for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference, a short-lived rival of the National Football League. Unfortunately he suffered a series of heart attacks beginning when he was just 30 years old. However, he managed to live another 57 years. Kimbrough died May 8, 2006, in Haskell, Texas. The cause of death was pneumonia.