Jim Kendrick James Marcellus Kendrick was a professional football player during the early years of the National Football League with the Toledo Maroons , Canton Bulldogs , Louisville Brecks , Chicago Bears , Hammond Pros , Buffalo Bisons , Rochester Jeffersons , Rock Island Independents , Buffalo Rangers and the New York Giants . Kendrick was a part of the Bulldogs ' 1922 NFL championship team and the Giants ' 1927 NFL Championship team . Early life . Jim , born in Hillside , Texas on August 22 , 1893 , was the youngest of nine children to J . M . and Lura Kendrick . In 1904 his family relocated to Waco , Texas where Jim attended Douglas Select School . The school did not have a football team at the time , however Jim did excel on the school ' s baseball team . In 1911 , he was elected as his senior class ' president . College . Jim did not play organized football until he entered Texas A & M University . There he earned All - Conference honors as an end in 1915 . During the 1915 season , Kendrick and the Aggies defeated their rival Texas Longhorns 13 – 0 . Jim also played baseball and basketball for the Aggies . Military service . In 1926 , Jim was a lieutenant in the Texas National Guard . He was part of the Second Texas Infantry Regiment . That year he was part of a force called up to track down the Mexican bandit Poncho Villa . Jim served in the US forces under the legendary General Jack Pershing . Jim joined the United States Army in 1917 and was in France during World War I . During this era , many military units created football teams . In Jim ' s team won US National Guard Championship in 1917 . The team won eight games and was only scored on once . Kendrick also played for the 36th Division in the 1919 American Expeditionary Force championship game in Paris . Professional football . When the war ended , Jim became an assistant football coach at Baylor . In 1922 , Jim played professional football and signed with Canton Bulldogs of the National Football League . Jim played for the Bulldogs however he would occasionally sneak into the line - up for the Toledo Maroons for a few games . That year the Bulldogs won the 1922 NFL Championship . In 1923 , Jim accepted an assistant coaching position at Centre College in Danville , Kentucky . He also coached the school ' s baseball and basketball teams . On Sundays , he played for the Louisville Brecks . The team was 0 – 3 in NFL competition . In 1924 Jim played for Chicago Bears and still kept his coaching position at Centre and during the off - season , Jim managed and played for the Cleveland Indians minor league affiliate in Bradenton , Florida . In 1925 , Jim began playing for the Hammond Pros . However the Buffalo Bisons wrestled him away from his contract to play football for them . In 1926 Jim was chosen to form a team for the Buffalo Bisons , composed only of players from Texas and Oklahoma . The team was renamed the Rangers , after Texas ' legendary peacekeeping force . The team ended the season with a final record of 4 – 4 – 2 . However , the Bisons only won two games overall in the three other seasons without Hughitt ( 1925 , 1927 , 1929 ) , each year with a different head coach . Kendrick played in 8 games for the New York Giants in 1927 . The Giants then won the 1927 NFL Championship , Jim ' s second title . After football . In 1928 , Jim was named the head football coach at St . Mary ' s University in San Antonio , Texas . He coached the Rattlers for just one season . In 1933 Jim was coaching the Blanco Tree Army Reserve football team for the Civilian Conservation Corps . That year a traffic accident occurred as the team was en route to a playoff game . Two players were killed and others wounded . Jim suffered severe injuries to his right arm , but selflessly insisted that doctors attend to his men first . As a result , the arm became infected and had to be amputated two inches above the elbow . For this act of heroism , Jim Kendrick was awarded the Soldier ’ s Medal , awarded to army personnel for heroic deeds performed during peacetime , by the United States War Department . Kendrick later became a college game official , presiding over several major games during the mid - to - late 1930s . He also was active in the oil industry and remained working their until his death . Death . At age 48 , Jim died in his hometown of Waco , on November 17 , 1941 , as the result of a stroke . He was survived by his wife Lucille and four sons .