Professional Football Player. For seven seasons (1934 to 1940), he played at the defensive-back, halfback, tailback, wing-back, punter and place-kicker positions in the National Football League with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Born Ralph Godfrey Kercheval, he attended Henry Clay High School in Lexington, and played collegiate football (also excelling in basketball and track) at the University of Kentucky, where he became one of the greatest punters in the school's history; he set several kicking records and earned All-SEC honors. Kercheval was signed by Brooklyn in 1934, (two years prior to the establishment of the NFL Draft), and appeared in 74 career games, achieving All-Pro status twice (1935 to 1936). He compiled 766 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns, 577 reception yards and 5 touchdowns, 31 field goals, and 36 punts for 1,450 yards, with a 40.3 average; he led the NFL with 5 field goals and 13 attempts in 1938. Following his football career, Kercheval served in the US Army during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the post-war years, Kercheval (receiving a degree in Animal Husbandry) worked on farms that raised and trained thoroughbred horses. He was a charter member of the University of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. At the time of his death at age 98, he was the oldest living former NFL player. Bio by: C.S.