Gene Fekete Eugene H . " Gene " Fekete ( August 31 , 1922 – April 28 , 2011 ) was an American football fullback and linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns for one season in the All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) before launching a coaching and education career . Fekete was from Findlay , Ohio , where he starred on several high school sports teams . He graduated and enrolled at Ohio State University in 1941 . At Ohio State , he was part of a football team that won the school ' s first national championship in 1942 . After serving in the U . S . Army for several years during World War II , Fekete returned to Ohio State to finish his education and played one year for the Browns , a new professional football team in the AAFC . His career cut short by a bad knee , Fekete went on to serve as an assistant football coach at Ohio State for 10 years . He then got a degree in educational administration and was the principal of two high schools and two middle schools in Columbus , Ohio before he retired in 1975 . He was inducted into Ohio State ' s Varsity " O " Hall of Fame in 1998 . Fekete died in 2011 . Early life and high school career . Fekete was born to Hungarian immigrants who settled in Findlay , Ohio in the early 1900s . Like his brothers John and Frank , he played on the Findlay High School basketball , track and football teams . A standout athlete , he was recruited by several big - name college football programs , including Michigan State University , Notre Dame University and Ohio State University . He accepted Ohio State ' s offer . College and military career . Fekete played on Ohio State ' s freshman team in 1941 , and moved to the varsity team under coach Paul Brown the following year . As a sophomore in 1942 , Fekete scored two touchdowns in the team ' s first regular - season game , a 59 – 0 win over a Fort Knox military team . He scored another pair of touchdowns in Ohio State ' s second game , a 32 – 21 win over Indiana University . In a game against the University of Pittsburgh , he set an Ohio State record for the longest run from scrimmage , an 89 - yard dash to the end zone . The record still stands . While Fekete ' s run was not recorded as a touchdown in Ohio State ' s record - books , a YouTube video shows him running into the end zone . Fekete led the Big Ten Conference in scoring and rushing in 1942 as Ohio State amassed a 9 – 1 record and won its first - ever national title . Fekete was selected as a third - team All - America n and was on the second team of United Press ' s all - Big - Ten team . Fekete also was eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting , making him the first Ohio State player to finish in the top ten . Fekete joined the U . S . Army in 1943 and was sent to Fort Bragg in North Carolina . After a stint at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn , New York to train as an engineer , he was sent to a recruitment center in Manhattan as an assistant psychologist . Fekete competed in the annual College All - Star Game in 1944 despite not having played football or exercised regularly for a year . He was out of shape and reported late to practice because the army initially denied his request to participate . On a handoff from quarterback Otto Graham in the team ' s first practice , he snapped ligaments in his left knee . After his discharge from the military , Fekete returned to Ohio State to finish out a master ' s degree in physical education . His thesis was a manual for the U . S . Air Force ' s conditioning program . Professional career . After about a year of recuperation , Fekete ' s knee was strong enough for him to play football again . He was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 1945 NFL Draft . He signed instead with the Cleveland Browns , a team set to start play in the new All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) in 1946 . The Browns were coached by Paul Brown , his old coach at Ohio State . During the 1946 season , Fekete shared time at fullback with Marion Motley . His knee injury flared up again , however , and it became clear that it could not sustain the hard knocks of a professional football season . He ended his playing career and got married after the Browns won the AAFC championship in 1946 , for which Fekete received an $ 833 bonus . Coaching career . After ending his playing career , Fekete accepted a job as the coach of Northern Illinois University ' s football team . After two years in that job , he returned to Ohio State as an assistant coach under Wes Fesler in 1949 . Woody Hayes took over as Ohio State ' s head coach in 1951 , and Fekete remained on the staff until 1958 . He coached running backs including Heisman Trophy winners Vic Janowicz and Howard " Hopalong " Cassady . Ohio State won two national championships while Fekete was with the team , in 1954 and 1957 . Education career . Frustrated at not getting a head coaching job in the college ranks and wanting to spend more time with his family and two sons , Fekete left his Ohio State coaching job . He tried the insurance business , then became the coach of the Columbus team in the new minor - league United Football League ( 1961 - 1964 ) , in 1961 , but resigned the following year . He spent four years as a World History teacher and football coach at West High School in Columbus , Ohio . The 1965 Occident Yearbook p . 88 states that Fekete " left after the first semester to become a cadet principal " . He then moved on to North High School in Columbus as an assistant principal , followed by Franklin and Starling middle schools before serving as principal of Briggs High School for 13 years . Later life and death . Fekete retired from Briggs in 1975 and was elected to the Ohio State Men ' s Varsity " O " Hall of Fame in 1998 . He died in 2011 at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus .