Kishman, Bill

Bill Kishman – (1987)

 

Bill Kishman

Bill Kishman was 8 years old when he started playing right field in Little League. He could not reach the top of the fence nor throw the horsehide from the fence to the infield. But he progressed to be the league’s premier shortstop and started in the All Star Game for 12 year olds.

Eligible for CYO football in the fifth grade, Bill was the league’s smallest center. His legs were barely long enough to enable him to pass the football to the quarterback. But by the 6th grade, the legs and arms became longer and Bill played quarterback. The following year he passed St. Mary’s to the championship.

As a Steelman, Bill continued the three major sports. But football was his first love and Bill played both ways as quarterback and defensive back. His senior year the Steelers were ranked 13th in the state and, Bill was 4th ranked Elyria’s nemesis. Elyria finally won but in the first 7 minutes, Bill scored two touchdowns, one a ten yard run and the second a 54 yard interception return.

Recruited by many colleges after his graduation, Bill decided to play football at Colorado State. As a sophomore at Colorado State, he started every game at strong safety. As a junior, Bill lead the Ram defense with 113 tackles – 61 unassisted, intercepted 3 passes and batted down 13 more. He became known as “Kruncher” and area fans and sportswriters compared Bill very favorably with CSU pro-stars Jack Christiansen and Jim David.

Kruncher’s senior year was sensational. He ended the year with 163 tackles and six interceptions and was named to the all-opponent team by every team CSU played. Coloradoans will not forget Bill’s efforts against West Texas State’s “Mercury” Morris as quoted in a Denver paper 11-19-1968.

*”Kishman, a senior safety who has performed superbly week after week was assigned one on one to Mercury Morris, the national rushing leader. Wherever Morris went Saturday, Kishman was there to escort him. Morris averaged only 3.9 a carry against his season’s 6.4 and his 112 yards in 32 carrys were 50 yards below his average.*
*The six foot two, 205 pound defender made a total of 33 tackles (10 unassisted), intercepted a pass, deflected a pass and recovered a fumble. The pass interception and fumble recovery both placed Colorado in scoring position.”*

For his fine career at CSU, Bill was voted the Golden Helmet award by his teammates and received the NYE Award as CSU’s outstanding athlete for 1968-69. He was named to the Western Athletic Conference 1st team, and the following All-America Teams: Kodak 100, Detroit Free Press, AP & UPI honorable mention and (how about this!) the Playboy All America. Bill then went on to play in the East-West Shrine and All-American games.

After his senior season, Bill was a high draft choice of Vince Lombardi and the Redskins. When Vince left the Redskins, Bill decided to leave also.