Darrell George Lester (April 29, 1914 – July 30, 1993) was a two-time All-American center for

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

in the 1930s. A native of

Jacksboro, Texas Jacksboro is a city in Jack County, Texas, in the United States. Its population was 4,511 at the 2010 census. U.S. Highways 281 and 380, and Texas State Highways 114 and 199 intersect at Jacksboro, which is the county seat of Jack County. Histo ...

, Lester was not only a great football player at TCU. He earned nine varsity letters in all, also playing center on the Horned Frogs'

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team and pitching for the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

team. It was football, though, where Lester made his mark. He was the first player in

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

history to be named consensus All-American twice, earning that honor in both 1934 and 1935. He is the only Horned Frog to be named a two-time consensus All-American. He was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on the 1935 team, and along with

Sammy Baugh Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a safety and punter. H ...

led the Frogs to a 12-1 record and a

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed on ...

victory over

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. His successor at center for TCU was

Ki Aldrich Charles Collins "Ki" Aldrich (June 1, 1916 – March 12, 1983) was an American football player. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960. Early life Aldrich was born in Rogers, Texas and attended Temple High School in Te ...

, who was himself a two-time All-American. Lester was drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

and played for them for two seasons before retiring due to an injury. After football, Lester served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In the postwar period, he worked for

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company ori ...

and was one of the founders of the

Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium from 19 ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

. He retired to

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the U.S. census, and is one of the two principal cities in Bell County. Located near the county seat of Belton, Temple lies in t ...

. He was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...

in 1988 and died in 1993.

References

External links

* 1914 births 1993 deaths American football centers Green Bay Packers players TCU Horned Frogs football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces soldiers People from Jacksboro, Texas Players of American football from Texas People from Temple, Texas {{collegefootball-player-stub