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Joe "King" Krol

Date of birth:	February 20, 1919(1919-02-20)
Place of birth:	Hamilton, Ontario
Date of death:	December 16, 2008 (aged 89)
Place of death:	Toronto, Ontario
Career information
CFL status:	Non-import
Position(s):	QB/RB/P/K/DB
Height:	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:	200 lb (91 kg)
Jersey №:	55
University:	University of Western Ontario
High school:	Kennedy Collegiate Institute
Organizations
As player:
1942-1944 1945 1945-1952 1955	Hamilton Flying Wildcats (ORFU) Detroit Lions (NFL) Toronto Argonauts (IRFU) Toronto Argonauts (IRFU)
Career highlights and awards
Grey Cup champion (1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1952)
Awards:	Lou Marsh Trophy (1946) Jeff Russel Trophy (1946) Canadian Male Athlete of the Year (1946, 1947)
Honours:	All-Eastern RB (1945, 1946, 1947, 1948) Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1975)
Retired #s:	55 (Toronto Argonauts)
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com
Canadian Football Hall of Fame

Joe "King" Krol (February 20, 1919 – December 16, 2008) was a Canadian football quarterback, running back, defensive back, and placekicker/punter from 1942 to 1953 and 1955. Considered as possibly the most versatile player in Canadian football history as a triple-threat to pass, run, and kick, he was one of Canada's greatest athletes and also famously known as a "Gold Dust Twin" for his teamwork with Royal Copeland. After suffering from a fall in his apartment, Krol died in a Toronto hospital on December 16, 2008.^[1]

Early life

Krol was born on February 20, 1919, in Hamilton, Ontario and began playing Canadian football in high school at Kennedy Collegiate Institute in Windsor, Ontario in 1932, with which he won several secondary school championships. He went to the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario and played Intercollegiate Football for the Western Ontario Mustangs from 1938 to 1942 including the Intercollegiate championship in 1939.^[2][3][4]

Professional career

Krol joined the Hamilton Flying Wildcats, an Ontario Rugby Football Union precursor to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, following university in 1942.^[5][6] In the 1943 season, he led the Flying Wildcats to a surprise victory to win his first of six Grey Cups.^[7] His performance, with a 30-yard pass for a touchdown, a field goal, and a rouge, made him the star of the game^[8]. The Wildcats returned to the Grey Cup final in the 1944 season but lost. In that game, Krol fumbled the ball to the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy team after a hard hit on a run in the second quarter.^[8] Krol went on to play two games with the Detroit Lions in 1945 before joining the Toronto Argonauts for the remainder of the 1945 Canadian football season.^[5]

Krol won six Grey Cups, five with the Toronto Argonauts. His #55 jersey is one of only four that has been retired by the Boatmen. He was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete in 1946. He became a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963. He also played 2 games for the Detroit Lions of the NFL in 1945. Along with Royal Copeland (Argonauts and Calgary Stampeders 1944-1956), they were known as the Gold Dust Twins. Although official statistics were not kept for the Eastern teams until 1954, according to the 2001 Unofficial Canadian Football Encyclopedia, during the 1946 season, Krol completed ten passes for 147 yards and threw four touchdowns.^[9]

In November, 2006, Krol was voted one of the CFL's top 50 players (#46) in a poll conducted by Canadian sports network TSN.^[10]

Joe Krol was also one of the owners of the Mercury Night club with Harry Eckler of the baseball hall of fame and Sam Luftspring of the boxing hall of fame the most popular night club of the 1950's.

References

External links

• DatabaseFootball.com NFL stats - Joe Krol
• ARGONAUTS MOURN THE PASSING OF JOE "KING" KROL (Argonauts.ca tribute to Krol)
• Waddell, Dave (2008-12-19). "Krol Windsor's first football hero". Windsor Star. http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/football/cfl/story.html?id=1095281.