Paul Kromer
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| Date of birth | September 24, 1917 |
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| Place of birth | Lorain, Ohio |
| Date of death | February 8, 2008 (aged 90) |
| Place of death | Largo, Florida |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| College | Michigan |
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."
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.
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."
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