Tightwad Hill

MARLIN MCKEEVER 1940-2006

I heard this evening that Marlin McKeever had passed away from a head injury suffered in a fall. He was only 66. He and his twin brother Mike were football stars for USC in the late 1950s, though Marlin was the more accomplished player - a two-time All American - and lasted 13 years in the NFL as a linebacker and occasional tight end. Mike died even younger - he was only 27 when he too died of a head injury suffered in a car crash.

The McKeevers were famed for their physical play on defense. Time Magazine once asked whether they were "too rough for football," after a late hit by Mike sent Cal halfback Steve Bates to the hospital with multiple fractures of his face in a 1959 game. This incident compelled Berkeley chancellor Glenn Seaborg to publicly call for the player's expulsion from college football.

Mike's daughter (and Marlin's niece) Teri has coached Cal's women's swim team for the past fifteen years. Condolences and best wishes to her and to the entire McKeever family. And to the Trojan family, too.

posted by Tightwad @ 10:21 PM