Louis James Kelcher was an American 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 who played most of his career with the San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. His primary position was defensive tackle. His outstanding performance made him one of the team's most popular players from 1975-83. He was a graduate of Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 and French High School in Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...

.

NFL career

Kelcher was known for his immense size: he stood 6'5", weighed 285 pounds, wore size 17EEE shoes, and had a size 16.5 ring finger. He was drafted in the 2nd round in 1975 and was named to the NFL All-Rookie team. Kelcher was selected to the Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

 in 1978, 1979 and 1981; was named All-AFC

American Football Conference

The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....

 in 1977, 1978 and 1980; and 1st-team All-Pro

All-Pro

All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...

 in 1978 and 2nd-team All-Pro in 1980 and 1981. In 1977, his teammates voted him the team's Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player

In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...

.

In 1980, Kelcher teamed with fellow 1975 Chargers' draftees Fred Dean

Fred Dean

Frederick Rudolph "Fred" Dean is a former American football player in the National Football League, and a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. His career started with the San Diego Chargers in 1975 and ended with the San Francisco 49ers after the 1985 season. Dean was born in Arcadia, the seat of...

 and Gary "Big Hands" Johnson as the Chargers led the NFL in sacks (60). Johnson and Dean were named 1st-team All-Pro, with Kelcher being named 2nd-team All-Pro. The trio, along with Leroy Jones

Leroy Jones (football player)

Leroy Jones is a former American football defensive end for the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League.In 1980, Jones teamed with All-Pro's Fred Dean, Gary "Big Hands" Johnson, and Louie Kelcher on the defensive frontline as the Chargers led the NFL in sacks...

 formed a defensive frontline that was locally nicknamed the Bruise Brothers, coined from a popular act at the time, The Blues Brothers. Don "Air" Coryell's

Don Coryell

Donald David Coryell was an American football coach, who coached in the NFL first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973–1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978-1986. He was well known for his innovations to football's passing offense. Coryell's offense was commonly known as "Air Coryell"...

 Chargers teams of that era are mostly remembered for its high-scoring, pass-oriented offense. The Chargers won the AFC West from 1979–1981 and made the playoffs in 1982.

In 1985 Kelcher finished his career as a member of the Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 XIX

Super Bowl XIX

Super Bowl XIX was an American football game played on January 20, 1985 at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1984 regular season...

 champion San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...

, reuniting him with former Charger teammates Johnson and Dean.