| Herman Wedemeyer (center) in a 1947 photo. Wedemeyer, a native of Hilo, won All-America honors as a halfback for St. Mary's College in California. Wedemeyer was called the greatest athlete in the country by sportswriter Grantland Rice in 1945 and nicknamed "Squirmin' Herman" for his elusive moves on the football field. He was a first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dons of the All America Football Conference in 1947, and later played for the Baltimore Colts, but an injury cut short his career.
He returned to Hawai'i, had a successful business career and entered politics. The other two men in the photo are Johnny McColgan, St. Louis coach, and William Wedemeyer, Herman Wedemeyer's father. Wedemeyer let St. Louis School to ILH football titles in 1941 and 1942. |