Mel Hein Melvin Jack Hein ( August 22 , 1909 – January 31 , 1992 ) was an American football player for the New York Giants . Hein played fifteen seasons for the Giants ( 1931 - 45 ) and never missed a down due to injury . He is the first player and only offensive lineman to win the NFL MVP award ( 1938 ) and he helped the Giants win the championship that season . Mel was part of the first inductee class into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 . In 1969 , he was named the center on the NFL 50th Anniversary Team , and was named to the 75th Anniversary Team in 1994 . In 1999 , despite 55 years having passed since his last game , he was ranked number 74 on " The Sporting News " ' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players . Early life . Hein played prep football for the Burlington High School Tigers ( now Burlington - Edison High School ) in Burlington , Washington , where he played center and defensive line positions . His senior year Hein earned the Skagit County Football MVP , the highest award for a prep player in the Skagit Valley in those days . He was also named to the First Team All - State football team as a senior . It has been said he is the first professional athlete to hail from the state of Washington . Hein is known for wearing jersey number 7 , but it is not known what jersey number he wore during his high school years as prep teams might not have worn numbers in those days . Hein is also a charter member of the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association ( WIAA ) . He also excelled as a basketball player in his prep days with the Tigers , playing center on the court , as well . College career . A consensus pick as the greatest center in football , Hein was the first player to have his famous No . 7 retired at Washington State University . An All - American pick following the 1930 season , Hein helped lead the Cougars to an undefeated record that year and into the 1931 Rose Bowl game against Alabama . WSU lost that game 24 - 0 , but WSU ' s record in Hein ' s three varsity seasons was 26 - 6 . Hein was an All - America selection as a senior ( 1930 ) and was an All - West Coast pick after having been named to the All - Coast second team as a junior . At WSU , he also played center during his junior year on the Cougar basketball team . Pro career . He signed a contract with the New York Giants , married his college sweetheart , and packed all of their belongings into a broken down car and drove from Pullman to New York . He played for 15 years as a center and a defensive lineman . Hein was an All - NFL Center 1933 - 1940 . He was inducted as a charter member into the National Football League Hall of Fame in Canton , OH , in the summer of 1963 . He was also inducted as a charter member into the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978 , and was the first alumni athlete inducted into the new Burlington - Edison High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 . Add to all of these , his membership into the Washington State Sports Hall of Fame and the Inland Empire Sports Hall of Fame . His jersey number 7 retired by both his college team , the WSU Cougars of the Pac - 10 Conference and by the New York Giants . Eight times an All - Pro center , Hein was the NFL ' s MVP in 1938 - as a center in his eighth year in the league . The Giants ' great No . 7 was the center of two teams — in 1934 ( NYG 30 , Chicago 13 ) and again in 1938 ( NYG 23 , Green Bay 17 ) . Hein was a member of five losing teams in the NFL Championship , — 1933 , 1935 , 1939 , 1941 , and 1944 . After his retirement . Beyond his playing days , Hein coached for four years , both as a head coach and as an assistant . He coached at the University of Southern California during the 1950s . From 1966 - 67 , he was the supervisor of officials for the American Football League . In 1969 , Hein was voted one of the 11 all - time best professional and collegiate football players in a vote conducted in conjunction with professional football ' s Centennial celebration . The Washington State University Board of Regents honored Hein May 14 , 1983 , with its Distinguished Alumnus Award , the highest award bestowed a Cougar alum . Hein is also a charter member of The College Hall of Fame , one of two WSU Cougars honored by the National Football Foundation . In 1999 , he was one of three centers named to The Sporting News All - Century team for college players .