Paul Kromer Paul S . Kromer ( September 24 , 1917 – February 8 , 2008 ) was an American football player . A native of Lorain , Ohio , Kromer enrolled at the University of Michigan where he played halfback for the Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1938 to 1927 . With Kromer at left halfback and Tom Harmon at right halfback , Michigan ' s backfield pair became known in 1938 as the " Touchdown Twins . " Early years . Kromer was born in Lorain , Ohio in approximately 1917 . His father , Frank T . Kromer , was an Ohio native and a motor man for an electric railway . His mother , Olive Kromer , was also an Ohio native . He attended The Kiski School , a private preparatory school in Saltsburg , Pennsylvania . Kromer became a highly - regarded football player at Kiski . In October 1930 , he scored a touchdown to give Kiski a 7 – 0 win over the Penn State freshman football team . He had outstanding speed as a teenager , and was beaten by only one foot in a 100 - yard dash against Jesse Owens when he was 16 years old . Kromer could run the 100 - yard dash in 9 . 9 seconds . In December 1936 , he announced that he would enroll at the University of Michigan . University of Michigan . Kromer enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1937 . He came to Michigan as a heralded football star from Ohio . As a freshman in 1937 , Kromer played for Michigan ' s All - Freshman football team . As a sophomore , Kromer was given jersey No . 83 , the number assigned to one of Michigan ' s famed plays , and played left halfback for the 1938 Michigan Wolverines football team . He became known as the " Lorain tornado . " Under first - year head coach Fritz Crisler , the 1938 Wolverines finished with a 6 – 1 – 1 record and outscored opponents 131 to 40 . Crisler called sophomores Tom Harmon and Kromer " the finest halfbacking combination he has ever coached . " Crisler called Kromer " the more instinctive runner of the two . " Harmon and Kromer did much of the ball - carrying for Michigan in 1938 , and some observers recalled that " Paul probably played as well , if not better , than Harmon . " A profile of Harmon and Kromer noted : " Kromer , 5 feet 10 and 160 pounds , is just the opposite . He ' s the shifty type the kind who ' ll give you a leg and take it away while you ' re grabbing at thin air . . . . He ' s just as fast as Harmon and equally able on the pitching end of the pigskin . " The backfield duo of Kromer and Harmon gave the Michigan offense a spark in 1938 , as the two became known as the " Touchdown Twins . " " The Michigan Alumnus " in November 1940 recalled the efforts of Kromer and Harmon : " In that season of two years ago two boys flashed brilliantly across the gridiron horizon . Tom Harmon and Paul Kromer , Sophomores , halfbacks , teamed to give to Michigan the promise of the greatest backfield combination in football history . " As a junior in 1937 , Kromer was injured in the first game of the season with the result that " his football effectiveness was over " for the 1939 season . He started only three games during the 1940 season . Kromer left school for a time in the fall of 1939 after suffering his injury . His departure led to speculation in the national media that he was leaving the Michigan football team , but he returned in late November and said he had gone home to get some money from his parents . Kromer announced in the spring of 1940 that he intended to retire from active competition due to the knee injury he sustained in the 1939 season opener . However , Kromer did return to football during the 1940 season . Though his playing time was limited , Kromer had the most spectacular play of his career in the final game of the 1940 season , Kromer ' s final appearance with the Michigan Wolverines . Playing against Ohio State in Columbus , Ohio , Kromer got the start at left halfback . He returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter , as the Wolverines shut out the Buckeyes 40 to 0 . The 1940 Michigan team finished the season with a 7 – 1 record and was ranked No . 3 in the final Associated Press poll . " The Michigan Alumnus " described Kromer ' s run as follows : " He grabbed Scott ' s fine punt on his own 20 - yard line , feinted to the left and then cut over toward the center of the field . Harmon spilled the nearest Buckeye with a strenuous block and Rogers put another one out of action . Kolesar swung into action and two more Buckeyes went out of action . Wistert disposed of another — and then it was just a case of Kromer ' s outrunning the hopelessly pursuing remainder . Though lacking about fifty percent of his old speed and agility , Kromer sped down the side of the field and over for the score — the climax of his Varsity career . " The 1941 Michiganensian called him " the touchdown twin who came back despite a gelatin knee . " Military service and professional football . In June 1941 , Kromer joined the United States Navy and was appointed as an aviation cadet . He was assigned to the athletic office at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola , Florida . He suffered a broken neck in an automobile accident near Tupelo , Mississippi , on Christmas Eve 1941 , and was hospitalized at the Marine Corps hospital at Memphis , Tennessee . In 1942 , he was assigned to the Navy ' s inactive list because of the injuries he sustained in the accident . In June 1943 , he was signed to play professional football for the Detroit Lions . At the end of August 1943 , Lions head coach Gus Dorais placed Kromer on the team ' s reserve squad . Later years . Kromer lived in his later years in Pinellas County , Florida , at 787 Crescent Drive , Largo , Florida . He died at Largo , Florida , at age 90 in 2008 .