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Kenny Washington

Halfback

Inducted 1956

Date of Birth

8/31/1918

Birthplace

Los Angeles, CA

School

University of California, Los Angeles (1937-1939)

Bio

Kenny Washington was the first All-American in the history of the University of California-Los Angeles football and the first Bruin to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. In his three years at UCLA, 1937-1939, the team had records of 2-6-1, 7-3-1, 6-0-4. After his first team All-America season of 1939, the Helms Foundation named him the Athlete of the Year for all of Southern California. Liberty Magazine named him Back of the Year and he placed sixth in the Heisman vote. That year he also led the nation in total offense. He rushed for 1,914 yards in his career, a school record for 34 years. In the 1937 game with Southern California, newspaper accounts credited him with making a pass 62 yards in the air to Hal Hirshon. In 1955, the Helms Foundation named Washington and Southern Cal's Morley Drury the greatest football players in the area up to that time. Washington played professionally for the Hollywood Bears, a minor league team, and three years with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (1946-1948).