Kenneth Wilbur Huffine was a professional football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player-coach

Player-coach

A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....

 who played in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 from 1920 until 1925. During that time, he played for the Muncie Flyers

Muncie Flyers

The Muncie Flyers from Muncie, Indiana played in the National Football League from 1920-1921.-Origins:...

, Chicago Staleys and the Dayton Triangles

Dayton Triangles

The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangle Park, which was located at the confluence of the Great Miami and Stillwater Rivers in north...

. He was a member of the Staleys' 1921 Championship team. The Staleys were renamed the Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in 1922. Ken also played with the independent Fort Wayne Friars

Fort Wayne Friars

The Fort Wayne Friars were an early professional football team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The team, which was also known as the Friars Athletic Association, consistently fielded good and noteworthy teams...

 in 1920, alongside the legendary Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe

Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...

.

Prior to playing football professionally, Ken played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

. He was a three-time letterman with the Boilermakers in 1916, 1917 and 1919.

Rough first game

Ken also played in one of the very first NFL games as Muncie played the Rock Island Independents

Rock Island Independents

The Rock Island Independents were a professional American football team based in Rock Island, Illinois. One of the first professional football teams, they were founded in 1907 as an independent club. They later played in what is now the National Football League from 1920 to 1925. They joined the...

 on October 3, 1920. While serving as the team's punter, Huffine had three of his punts blocked during the game. The Independents used each blocked punt to score three touchdowns in the first quarter. Rock Island's Ed Shaw

Ed Shaw (American football)

Edson Walter Shaw was a professional football player who played in the National Football League with the Rock Island Independents, Canton Bulldogs and the Akron Pros. Shaw won a NFL Championship in 1922 with the Bulldogs. He finish his career in 1923, playing for the Pros. Before playing...

 blocked Huffine's first attempt and Arnie Wyman picked it up to run 35 yards for the score. Later Huffine got off a successful punt, however the Islanders drove to the Muncie two-yard line, only to fumble. But, when Huffine went into the end zone

End zone

In gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...

 for yet another punt attempt, Walt Buland

Walt Buland

Walter Daniel Buland was a professional football player in the early National Football League. He played in the NFL for the Rock Island Independents, Green Bay Packers and Duluth Eskimos. He also played for the Minneapolis Marines prior to their entry into the NFL. Buland also played in one of the...

 broke through to block, and Wyman scored again by falling on the ball in the end zone. As soon as Huffine was called upon to punt again, Shaw and Oke Smith

Oke Smith

Okla Eugene "Oke" Smith, also known by his nickname "Oak", was a professional American football player who played wide receiver for two seasons for the Rock Island Independents.-External links:*...

 blocked another one. This time Dewey Lyle

Dewey Lyle

Dewitt "Dewey" Wagner Lyle was a professional American football offensive lineman in the American Professional Football Association and the National Football League. He played four seasons for the Rock Island Independents and the Green Bay Packers...

 recovered but stepped out of bounds on the 15-yard line. Rube Ursella

Rube Ursella

Reuben J. Ursella was a professional football player-coach who played during the early years of the National Football League. During his NFL career Rube played for the Minneapolis Marines, Akron Indians, Hammond Pros, Minneapolis Red Jackets and the Rock Island Independents...

 then scored for Rock Island shortly after.

Personality and traits

According to Henry E. Beck's book Growin' Up With Men And Machines, Ken is described as a "soft spoken man with a hand like a catcher's mitt

Catcher's Mitt

Catcher's Mitt is the name of a study being conducted by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to "better understand the issues and challenges involved with removing man-made debris from earth orbit." DARPA's goal is to use the study to determine both if DARPA should invest...

. He was an educated person as people like being around him. During conversations Ken would listen to every word spoken to him.