Horace Malvern "Proc" Randels (August 5, 1900 – January 17, 1933) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

who played three seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

with the

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a major league baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a major league baseball team in ...

, the

Cleveland Bulldogs The Cleveland Bulldogs were a team that played in Cleveland, Ohio in the National Football League. They were originally called the Indians in 1923, not to be confused with the Cleveland Indians NFL franchise in 1922. However, after team owner ...

, and the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

Early life

Horace Malvern Randels was born on August 5, 1900, in Anthony, Kansas, to James Bennett Randels and Florence May Coulson Randels. He attended Chaparral High School in Anthony, where he played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

College career

Randels played

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

, then known as Kansas State Agricultural College. His nickname of "Proc" originated during his time at Kansas State, and he was also referred to as "Young Chief" while on the team. Randels' first stint on the Kansas State football team was from 1918 to 1920, during which he played under coach

Zora Clevenger Zora Goodwin Clevenger (December 12, 1881 – November 24, 1970) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and pioneering athletic director. He served as the head football coach at Nebraska Wesleyan University (1908–191 ...

. He left the team after 1920, but returned in 1925 to play one final season of college football under coach

Charlie Bachman Charles William Bachman Jr. (December 1, 1892 – December 14, 1985) was an American college football player and coach. Bachman was an Illinois native and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he played football. He served as the head ...

. That season, Randels made second team All-American.

NFL career

Kansas City Cowboys

Randels played with the

in 1926, the team's final season. He started all eleven games at left end.

Cleveland Bulldogs

Following the 1926 season, the Cowboys merged with the

, and Randels followed the team to play with them for their final season in 1927. In six games with three starts, he recorded two receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown. He also recorded one rushing touchdown. In the first quarter of a November 13, 1927 game against the

Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets wo ...

, Randels blocked a punt, scoring a safety for the Bulldogs. The game was a 37–0 blowout win for Cleveland.

Detroit Wolverines

In 1928, the Bulldogs relocated to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and were renamed the Wolverines, after Michigan's college football team. Randels played ten games with the Wolverines with three starts, and made four receptions for 75 yards and one touchdown.

Later life and death

In the years following his NFL career, Randels remained in Detroit, where he worked for an automobile finance company. In 1930, he married Ione Dull, with whom he had two children. In June 1932, the family moved to a ranch near Butlerville, Utah, southeast of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, which directly adjoined the ranch of Ione's father, Dr. Lafayette Jackson Dull, a 72-year-old retired dentist. On the evening of January 17, 1933, Dr. Dull called the Randels home to ask for eggs and milk, but Randels refused to give him the amount he asked for, causing Dull to become enraged and shout at Randels over the phone, "I'll get you." Later that evening, around 6:30 p.m., Proc and Ione Randels went to the Dull house to help care for Junior Dull, Ione's 12-year-old brother, who was ill. They brought two eggs with them, which displeased Dr. Dull, who then suddenly shot Randels in the back in the presence of his young nephew. Randels attempted to defend himself by pushing Dull into a chair, which caused the revolver to go off again and shoot Randels in the chest. Randels died almost immediately due to the bullet wounds in his back and chest. His body was taken back to Anthony for burial on January 20. Ione Randels was the primary witness out of six that testified against her father in his trial. He pled not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder, and was charged with second-degree murder and initially sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, given Dull's history of poorly controlled emotional outbursts that had affected his dentistry career and family life, he was later declared insane and moved to the Utah State Mental Hospital. He died there in 1934, after about a year at the hospital.

References

External links

Horace M. “Proc” Randels on Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randels, Proc 1900 births 1933 deaths People murdered in 1933 American football ends Cleveland Bulldogs players Detroit Wolverines (NFL) players Kansas City Cowboys (NFL) players Kansas State Wildcats football players People from Anthony, Kansas People murdered in Utah Players of American football from Kansas Deaths by firearm in Utah American murder victims