Bill Kern, Part 1: Luzerne County native became gridiron legend at Pitt
Born in Kingston, raised in Edwardsville, Kern was a favorite player of several iconic coaches.
This is Part 1 of 2 in a series of articles about Bill Kern. Part 1 is about Kern, the player. Part 2 (forthcoming) is about Kern, the coach.
The son of European immigrants who settled in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Bill Kern lived the American football dream.
He won national acclaim and played on the sport’s biggest stages at the University of Pittsburgh. He played on the famed Green Bay Packers’ first NFL championship team. And, he extended his football life into his 40s as a college coach.
Kern was born Sept. 2, 1906, in Kingston, Luzerne County. His father, Mathew, was a coal miner and his mother, Katherine, was a homemaker, raising eight children at the family home on Zerby Avenue in Edwardsville. Public records offer conflicting versions of Mathew and Katherine’s country of origin — Lithuania, England, Ireland.
Kern, whose hair was described as “platinum blond,” graduated from nearby Wyoming Seminary. The school had a burgeoning reputation for sending elite football talent — such as Ralph “Horse” Chase — to Pitt.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Kern followed in Chase’s footsteps. Kern earned his first letter in 1925, when Pitt, captained by Chase, went 8-1. But Kern truly broke out two years later in 1927.
The 1927 Panthers won most games by blowout en route to an 8-1-1 record, blemished only by a 0-0 tie against Washington & Jefferson and a 7-6 loss to Stanford in the Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl was notable in that it featured two all-time great head coaches in Pitt’s Jock Sutherland and Stanford’s Pop Warner, who coached Sutherland at Pitt.
While Pitt lost the Rose Bowl, Graham McNamee referred to Kern during the radio broadcast as one of Pitt’s bright spots — par for the course during 1927. He made multiple All-America teams.
“Sutherland says Bill Kern is one of the smartest tackles ever to don the Blue and Gold,” the Wilkes-Barre Record wrote late in the 1927 season. “He has played the finest sort of football in every game Pitt has played this season and has outplayed every opponent. …
“One of the greatest exhibitions given by Kern this season was in the game against Nebraska. Pittsburgh sports writers cited him as being in every play on the defense and … he intercepted passes, picked up fumbles and raced down the field under punts to topple the Nebraska receiver in his tracks.”
Kern graduated from Pitt in 1928 and resurfaced one year later with the Green Bay Packers. He played in 12 games, starting nine, in 1929. One of Kern’s finest performances happened against the rival Chicago Bears, against whom he blocked a punt for a safety. Kern played in six games, starting three, in 1930. Led by head coach Curly Lambeau, the Packers won the NFL title both seasons.
“More than any other team in the professional league, Green Bay is comprised of athletes who earn their living and make their homes in the city,” stated one article mentioning that Kern worked as an electrical engineer.
Kern effectively retired from playing football after 1930. He maintained correspondence with the Packers, however, occasionally writing letters to Lambeau that served as scouting reports for upcoming opponents. Kern picked that skill up in 1929. He had a sore shoulder one week, so Lambeau sent him to Providence, Rhode Island, to scout a game between the Steam Roller and the Boston Bulldogs.
While Kern played only two seasons with the Packers, he did more than enough to impress the legendary Lambeau. In a 1948 interview, Lambeau picked his all-time Packers all-star team. At tackle, he chose Cub Buck, a five-year Packer, and Kern.
