Merle Wendt
 |
|
| Ohio State Buckeyes | |
|---|---|
| Position | End |
| Career history | |
| College | Ohio State (1935) |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | April 7, 1915 |
| Date of death | February 12, 2000 (aged 84) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
Merle Wendt (April 7, 1915 – February 12, 2000) was an All-American football player at Ohio State University. Wendt played at the end position and became the fourth three-time All-American (1934–1936) at Ohio State, following Chic Harley, Wes Fesler, and Lew Hinchman.
Wendt was a native of Middletown, Ohio, the "quiet, smiling and bashful son of a foreman in the steam fitting department of the American Rolling Mills." Wendt played basketball all four years at Middletown High School and played football on Elmo Lingrel's teams his sophomore, Junior and senior years. He was the captain of the football team during his senior year and also the class (1933) president. Wendt was highly recruited out of high school and received an offer from University of Southern California coach (and Butler County, Ohio native) Howard Jones to play for the Trojans. Wendt opted instead to accept an offer to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes under head coach Francis Schmidt. Schmidt tried Wendt at the center position at the start of the 1934 season and eventually moved the speedy Wendt to the end position. He was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and worked his way through college as a caretaker at his fraternity house where he was responsible for firing the furnace, sweeping walks and shoveling snow. Wendt was a starter for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 1934 to 1936 and was captain of the 1936 team. Wendt was five feet eleven inches tall, and weighed 190 pounds. He was described as "A great pass catcher, hard tackier and tops in defense." Upon his selection as captain, one Ohio newspaper wrote: "A superb defensive man, the 188 pound flanker teamed with Gomer Jones, Cleveland, whom he succeeds at the Ohio helm, in leading the charge of the forward wall of Francis Schmidt's eleven."
Wendt was selected as an All-Western Conference end as a sophomore in 1934. He was also selected as a first-team All-American in 1934 by the International News Service—the Hearst newspapers wire service. In 1935, Wendt was selected as a first-team All-American by Liberty Magazine (based on "a poll of 1521 varsity players in all parts of the country") and the Newspaper Editors Association. He was also as second-team selection of the United Press, North American Newspaper Alliance, and Central Press in 1935.
...
Wikipedia