View source for Mort Kaer

{{Short description|American football player and pentathlete (1903–1992)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox CFL biography
|image=mortkaer.jpg
 |birth_date={{Birth date|1903|9|7|mf=y}}
 |birth_place=[[Omaha, Nebraska]], U.S.
 |death_date={{Death date and age|1992|1|11|1903|9|7}}
 |death_place=[[Mount Shasta, California]], U.S.
 |Position=[[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]] 
 |College=[[University of Southern California|USC]]
|career_highlights =
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1926 College Football All-America Team|1926]])
* First-team [[List of All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-PCC]] ([[1926 All-Pacific Coast football team|1926]])
 |DatabaseFootball=KAERMOR01
 |playing_years1=1931
 |playing_team1=[[Frankford Yellow Jackets]]
 |CollegeHOF=1433
}}

'''Morton Armour Kaer''' (September 7, 1903 – January 11, 1992), nicknamed "'''Devil May'''", was an American athlete in track and an [[All-America]]n collegiate and professional [[American football|football]] player. He was born in [[Omaha, Nebraska]], and died in [[Mount Shasta, California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78634 |title=Mort Kaer |work=Olympedia |access-date=2 October 2021}}</ref>

At the [[1924 Summer Olympics]] in [[Paris]], he placed fifth<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shastacosportshof.org/northstate.htm|title=Welcome to Shasta County Sports Hall of Fame|work=shastacosportshof.org}}</ref> in the [[Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics - Men's pentathlon|Olympic pentathlon competition]].

He was a [[halfback (American football)|halfback]] for the [[USC Trojan football|USC Trojans]] from 1924 to 1926. In 1925, he set a school record by scoring 19 [[touchdowns]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXONAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23|title=The USC Trojans Football Encyclopedia|isbn=9781476615110|last1=Shmelter|first1=Richard J.|date=22 April 2014|publisher=McFarland }}</ref> which led the nation that year, tying [[Peggy Flournoy]]'s mark. The record lasted 43 years, broken in 1968 by [[O. J. Simpson]]. In Kaer's three years he had 36 touchdowns, a career record for the school, tied by Simpson in 1967 and 1968. He was elected All-American in 1926.

Five years after his college career, Kaer played one year of professional football, 1931, with the [[Frankford Yellow Jackets]] of the [[National Football League]]. He became coach at [[Weed High School]] in [[Weed, California]], where he accumulated a record of 187–47–7 over 28 years in which his teams won 17 conference championships.

He was elected to the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1972.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{College Football HoF|1433}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=mort-kaer|espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=K/KaerMo20 |rotoworld= }}
* {{Sports-Reference|ka/mort-kaer-1|Mort Kaer}}
* {{Olympics.com profile|morton-kaer|Morton Kaer}}

{{1926 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1924 Summer Olympics}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaer, Morton}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:American pentathletes]]
[[Category:Frankford Yellow Jackets players]]
[[Category:USC Trojans football players]]
[[Category:High school football coaches in California]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:People from Red Bluff, California]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Tehama County, California]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Nebraska]]