Ronald Vander Kelen (November 6, 1939 – August 14, 2016) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He played at the collegiate level at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

and is best known for his MVP performance in the 1963 Rose Bowl, where he broke several Rose Bowl records, some of which still stand. In that game, he orchestrated a legendary fourth quarter comeback attempt against the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

in the first #1 (USC) versus #2 (

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

)

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

in college football history. Vander Kelen was inducted into the

Rose Bowl Hall of Fame The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. ...

in 1991.

Early life

Vander Kelen was born on November 6, 1939, in Preble, Wisconsin, now part of Green Bay. He graduated from Preble High School in 1958.

College career

Vander Kelen played at the collegiate level at the

in the first #1 (USC) versus #2 (

)

in college football history. In August 1963, he was named the starter in the Chicago College All-Star Game (a game which pitted college all-stars selected from the graduating class from the previous season against the NFL champion) over a group of quarterbacks which included 1962

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

winner

Terry Baker Terry Wayne Baker (born May 5, 1941) is an American former professional Gridiron football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football and college bas ...

. The college all-stars defeated 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

20–17, with a 74-yard touchdown completion to his college teammate, Pat Richter, providing the winning touchdown. Vander Kelen was named the game MVP. The 1963 game would prove to be the last time the college all-stars defeated the NFL champion in this series.

NFL career

He was not drafted in the 1963 NFL draft and drafted in the 21st round of the 1963 AFL Draft by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. He entered into a contract with the NFL's

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He was the backup to

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He is wi ...

from 1963 to 1966 and competed for the starting position after Tarkenton was traded to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in 1967. Vander Kelen was then traded to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, but never played a regular season game. Vander Kelen also saw playing time in the CFL with the 1968 Calgary Stampeders.

Death

He died at the age of 76 on August 14, 2016.

References

External links

Ron Vander Kelen
at Pro-Football-Reference.com *
UW-Madison Archives 1963 Rose Bowl photostream
at

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vander Kelen, Ron 1939 births 2016 deaths American football quarterbacks Minnesota Vikings players Wisconsin Badgers football players Players of American football from Green Bay, Wisconsin