Hall of Fame
Position: Halfback/Quarterback
Years: 1959-1961
Place of Birth: Lawrence, KS
Date of Birth: Feb 15, 1940
Date of Death: November 30, 2022
Jersey Number: 21
Height: 6-1
Weight: 205
High School: Lawrence (Lawrence, KS)
The two-position All American, John Hadl attended Lawrence High School in Kansas as an all-state halfback for the football team and as a centerfielder for the baseball team. He remained in state, selecting to attend KU, and he would go on to become the Jayhawks' first two-time First Team All-American.
He broke in as a halfback in 1959. A versatile two-way player, his contributions included a 98-yard interception return against TCU (a KU record until 2007), a 97-yard kickoff return against Syracuse, and a 94-yard punt against Oklahoma (a KU record, which still stands). His punting average for the season (45.6 yards) led the nation.
His junior and senior campaigns would etch his name in the KU and college football history books. He earned First Team All-America honors at halfback in 1960, and the following season, he moved to quarterback, again claiming All-America honors. He finished seventh in the 1961 Heisman voting. He was also the team's punter and shared kick-return duties all three years. With Hadl running the offense, the Jayhawks were ranked in the top-20 his junior and senior years, and KU finished the two-season span 14-5-2.
In the Bluebonnet Bowl after the 1961 season, he completed 7-of-10 passes in a 33-7 victory over Rice, notching KU's first ever bowl win.
Hadl played in the East-West Shrine Game and the College All-Star Game after the 1961 season and was named Most Valuable Player in both, becoming the first player ever to win both honors.
Hadl played professionally 16 years from 1962-77 as a quarterback for four different teams, earning six Pro Bowl selections. In 1965, playing for San Diego, he led the American Football League in passing, and in 1973, he claimed NFC Player of the Year honors with the Los Angeles Rams. He finished his career with the Green Bay Packers and Houston Oilers.
After his playing days, Hadl coached at KU as an assistant and then in the NFL with the Rams and Broncos before serving as the head coach of the Los Angeles Express in the USFL. He returned to KU in 1988 for three decades as an associate athletics director and major fundraiser. He retired in 2018.
He is a member of the KU Athletics Hall of Fame, the state of Kansas Sports Hall of Fame and the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame. He also was named the NFL's Man of the Year in 1971. A statue of Hadl was unveiled during the 2020 season outside the KU Anderson Family Football Complex, and it stands next to a statue of the late KU running back Gale Sayers, a 1977 College Football Hall of Fame inductee. A member of KU's ring of honor, his No. 21 is one of three Kansas football numbers to be retired.
