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© 2025 COLD WIRE MEDIA. THE COLD WIRE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF COLD WIRE MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USE OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY

Sunday, May 24, 2026

The Life And Career Of Mel Hein

Ben Donahue
By
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The Life And Career Of Mel Hein
(Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

 

For the first 30 years of its existence, the NFL used a one-platoon system.

That meant the same players who lined up at various positions on offense were also required to line up on defense.

The “60-Minute Men” were subject to the usual beatings common to the sport, but for a much longer period of game time.

Football then was not for the faint of heart and required stamina, strength and good fortune to last.

Mel Hein was up for the task and did so willingly.

He played in the NFL for the New York Giants and thrived as a center and linebacker, even earning league MVP honors in 1938.

“Old Indestructible” lasted 15 years with the G-Men and never missed a game.

In fact, his nickname was appropriate because Hein didn’t miss a contest in high school, college, or the pros.

After his retirement, Hein spent the next two decades as a coach at the collegiate and pro levels.

This is the story of Mel Hein.

 

A Talent in Washington

Melvin (Mel) Jack Hein was born on August 22, 1909, in Redding, California.

The Hein family moved to Washington not long after and lived in various cities until settling in Burlington, a stone’s throw from Puget Sound.

His road to football immortality began as a football and basketball player at Burlington High School.

Legend has it that Hein and his brothers learned to play football using an inflated pig’s bladder, although that may have been a joke told by Hein himself.

Regardless, he played both sports so well that the coaches at the University of Washington and Washington State University reached out.

Initially, Hein wanted to become a Husky so he could row with the school’s crew team, the same program that would later produce the team that was highlighted in the book and movie “The Boys in the Boat.”

However, his brother, Lloyd, was attending WSU in Pullman on a track scholarship and encouraged his little brother to attend.

 

3-Sport Athlete

When Hein got to Pullman, he joined a Cougars program that hadn’t seen a ton of success in its short history.

William Dietz was the head coach from 1915 through 1917 and only lost two games.

“Lone Star” also brought home the school’s first Rose Bowl victory following the ‘15 season.

Three more coaches came and went after Dietz until “Babe” Hollingbery arrived in 1926.

He led WSU to a 6-1 record that season and 3-3-2 in 1927.

That same year, Hein practiced with the team while also competing in track.

He didn’t get much playing time and spent the next summer working for the U.S. Forest Service, where he built up strength cutting trees and clearing paths.

In 1928, the Cougars won seven games while the new and improved Hein played in every game as the team’s center and linebacker and was chosen for the All-West Coast team.

“He was absolutely outstanding from the get-go,” said Dick Fry, a former sports information director at Washington State.

A year later, the 1929 WSU squad won a then-school record 10 times, with their two losses coming against Cal-Berkeley and USC.

During his first three years in college, Hein also played for the Cougars basketball team.

 

1930

Hollingbery had his team firing on all cylinders in 1930.

By then, the roster included Hein, Albert “Turk” Edwards (who would play in the NFL for eight years) and Elmer Schwartz, also known as “Elmer the Great” (who would play in the pros for three years).

The Cougars won every game of the regular season, and Hein left spectators in awe when he intercepted no less than eight passes against the University of Idaho on November 8.

He was selected as a first-team All-Pacific Coast Conference member and was added to the Associated Press All-American list.

For just the second time in school history, WSU was picked to play in the Rose Bowl against the University of Alabama.

Unfortunately, the Tide was too strong and talented and blanked the Cougars, 24-0.

In 1977, Hein was chosen by sports writers for inclusion in the all-time Northwest team, and he was later added to the WSU Hall of Fame and the all-time modern All-American team.

His number 7 was the first jersey retired by WSU, and Hein was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.

 

An Opportunity with the Giants

New York giants

 

In today’s NFL, an athlete like Hein would have been meticulously scouted by every team in the league.

He would have been ranked according to other players at his position throughout the country, and hefty contract numbers would have been discussed.

However, back in 1931, there were few scouts and even fewer team personnel who knew the top athletes at each position.

Despite his stellar play at WSU, Hein wasn’t acknowledged by NFL teams after his final year.

Not to be deterred, he wrote to three different teams to offer his services and two responded.

The Providence Steam Rollers, based in Providence, Rhode Island, offered him a deal worth $125 per game.

Hein accepted by signing and mailing the contract back to the club.

Shortly after, a letter from the New York Giants arrived offering Hein $150 per game.

When he saw the amount, Hein desperately contacted the postmaster in Providence, asking him to find and return the Steam Rollers contract to him.

In hindsight, it was a wise decision.

“The postmaster intercepted the Steamrollers contract, Hein signed with the Giants and after that 1931 season, the Providence franchise folded,” former New York Times sports reporter Dave Anderson said.

 

Championship Ball Club

Hein packed up his 1929 Ford and his new bride, Florence, and headed East to the bright lights of the Big Apple.

Waiting for him was a franchise that was named the 1927 NFL Champions after an 11-1 record.

New York missed titles in 1929 and 1930, even though it won 13 games both years.

In 1931, Hein arrived as a rookie and played in all 14 games, starting 10, for the 7-6-1 Giants, who were coached by Steve Owen.

“Even as a rookie in 1931, there was no one like him,” George Halas, the owner and coach of the Chicago Bears, once said, according to the New York Times. “Usually, you look for the rookies on another team and try to take advantage of them. We tried working on Hein, but from the beginning, he was too smart.”

A year later, the G-Men struggled with a 4-6-2 record, but Hein proved more than adept at center and linebacker.

Then, in 1933, Hein was named first-team All-Pro for the first time as New York went 11-3 and lost to the Chicago Bears, 23-21, in the NFL Championship.

He was a first-team All-Pro again in 1934 when the Giants returned to the title game with an 8-5 record and beat Chicago in a rematch, 30-13.

By then, the franchise was on a roll as the G-Men went 9-3 in 1935, and again advanced to the NFL Championship for the third year in a row, although Hein and company lost to the Detroit Lions, 26-7.

 

MVP

mvp

 

When Hein played pro football, he was 6’2” and 225 pounds, about the size of a modern-day safety.

Back then, however, his size was perfect for both sides of the ball, and he dominated at both positions.

“Hein was a very interesting two-way player,” said former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “He was probably the most accurate snapper, certainly in his era. Defensively, he played linebacker and ran well. I think he was actually a better defensive player than an offensive player even though he is talked about as the greatest center of all time. It was all about being a two-way player.”

As Belichick mentioned, Hein was known as a fantastic center, and it was a rare day that he let loose a bad snap.

On defense, as he showed at Washington State, no quarterback was safe passing the ball.

“He rarely plays a game without intercepting at least one pass,” an article in the Spokane Statesman-Review newspaper read.

From his rookie year in 1931 through the 1937 season, Hein hadn’t missed a game playing both ways, and he was voted an All-Pro from 1933 through ‘37.

As it turned out, he was just getting started.

In 1938, the Giants finished on top of the Eastern Division with an 8-2-1 record while Hein manned the trenches, even taking an interception to the house for a score (the only pick-six in his career).

New York played the Green Bay Packers for the NFL Championship and prevailed 23-17.

During awards season, Hein was named the NFL MVP (the only offensive lineman in the history of the league to win the award), a first-team All-Pro and chosen for the league’s All-Star Game.

 

Player/Coach

For the next four seasons, Hein continued causing havoc on the field while still maintaining his dignity off the gridiron.

“I knew Mel very well,” Fry said in an interview. “He was not only a great football player and athlete, but he was an extremely good human being.”

Between 1939 and 1942, the Giants played in two more NFL Championships but lost both to the Packers (1939) and the Bears (1941).

Near the end of the 1942 season, Hein was ready to end his career and move on to something else.

He took a job as the head ball coach at Union College in New York, but World War II put a crimp in his plans.

The war effort enlisted men from all over the country, and several NFL players joined the Armed Forces.

Hein decided to remain with the Giants because of the lack of players.

Beginning in 1943, he would coach his players at Union during the week and play for the Giants on Sundays.

In ‘43, the college football season was cancelled because of the war, but Hein played in all 10 games for New York.

The following year, Hein led Union through a difficult 0-5 record.

However, he and the G-Men went 8-1-1 and advanced to the NFL Championship against the Packers, losing 14-7.

 

Retirement

Retirement

 

After seven long and bloody years, World War II ended in 1945, while the Giants went 3-6-1.

After the season, Hein retired from playing competitively.

During his 15-year career, he was the NFL MVP once, a two-time NFL champion, an eight-time first-team All-Pro, selected for four All-Star games, and never missed a game.

Although Hein pulled himself out of a couple of contests due to injuries, “Old Indestructible” suited up for all 170 possible games in his career, and he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“We played 60 minutes in those days,” Hein said. “I don’t think I would have liked to play just half the time as they do today.”

In the years following his retirement, Hein was added to the NFL’s 75th and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, the NFL’s 1930s All-Decade Team, placed in the Giants’ Ring of Honor and his number 7 was retired by the franchise.

Then, in 1963, Hein was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class.

“And if any of you people doubt that we’re not great, you should have been there. That’s the way with football. Whether you’re in high school, college, or professional, man, the longer you’re away from the sport, the greater you become, and it thrills me to death to think how great I’ll be when I’m 100 years old,” Hein said during his induction speech.

 

Coach Hein

Hein coached Union College to a 3-5 record in 1946, then left to coach the Los Angeles Dons of the newly formed All-American Football Conference (AAFC) in 1947.

Two years later, he moved back East to work with the New York Yankees AAFC team as an assistant coach.

In 1950, he returned to LA to work with the Rams as an assistant coach.

That happened to be the same year that quarterbacks Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin and receivers Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch and Tom Fears led LA to nine wins and a loss to the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship.

Hein left the organization after one season and became an assistant with the USC Trojans beginning in 1951.

He would remain with the Trojans as the offensive line coach through the 1965 season and was present when the program won Rose Bowls in 1952 and 1962.

USC also won the national title in 1962 under head coach John McKay.

After retiring as a coach following the 1965 season, Hein was the supervisor of officials for the American Football League (AFL) from 1966 through 1969 and was the AFC supervisor from 1970 through 1974.

Hein and his family lived in the LA area after retiring from football, and he passed away from stomach cancer in 1992 at the age of 82.

The Hein name lives on as his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids have played various sports at the high school and collegiate levels.

 

References

https://sports.yahoo.com

https://archive.seattletimes.com

washingtonsportshof.org

https://www.giants.com

https://www.giants.com

https://www.nytimes.com

https://footballfoundation.org

wsucougars.com

https://www.cfbhall.com

https://www.profootballhof.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com

NEXT:  The Life And Career Of Christian Peter

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Pro Football History Staff
Ben Donahue
Contributor at Pro Football History
Over 25 years of experience in sports including coach, athletic director, game day operations, media relations, football operations, and scout. He is [...]

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