Edwin Bernard “Eddie” Kahn, nicknamed “King Kong,” was a Jewish American football player who played guard for the Boston and Washington Redskins in the National Football League (NFL). A member of Washington’s 1937 NFL championship team, he later served as a U.S. Army officer in World War II and died from combat wounds in the Philippines.
Kahn was born in New York City on November 9, 1911, and grew up in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Boston English High School, where he began playing football, before continuing his education at the University of North Carolina. He lettered as a guard for the Tar Heels from 1932 through 1934 and acquired the nickname “King Kong” during his college career. In 1934, he was selected as a Jewish All-American; a contemporary Jewish Telegraphic Agency roster listed him as the first team’s left guard.
Kahn joined the Boston Redskins in 1935, when the franchise was owned by George Preston Marshall. The following season, he helped Boston finish with a 7–5 record, its first winning season, and capture the NFL’s Eastern Division title. The Redskins advanced to the championship game but lost to the Green Bay Packers. Kahn earned second-team All-NFL recognition in 1936.
He remained with the franchise when it moved to Washington in 1937. With quarterback Sammy Baugh joining the team, Washington finished the regular season 8–3 and defeated the Chicago Bears, 28–21, to win the NFL championship. Kahn appeared in 10 games that season and scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery. He also participated in the goal-line stand against the New York Giants in Washington’s first regular-season game at Griffith Stadium.
His final NFL season was 1937. In 1938, he continued his football career as a player and head coach with the minor-league Hazleton team in Pennsylvania, before retiring from the sport.
During World War II, Kahn served in the U.S. Army infantry and attained the rank of first lieutenant. He was wounded during the invasion of Kwajalein and subsequently suffered wounds during the campaign in the Philippines. He died from his injuries on February 17, 1945, at age 33. His military burial record lists him with the 149th Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division, and records a Purple Heart with an Oak Leaf Cluster. He is buried at Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Kahn was posthumously inducted into the Greater Washington Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
Sources: “Edwin Bernard Kahn,” Bender JCC of Greater Washington.
“Eddie Kahn,” Pro Football Archives.
“Eddie Kahn Coaching Record,” Pro Football Archives.
“The First Team,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, (November 27, 1934).
“Boston Redskins: 1935 Official Program,” Boston Redskins, reproduced by BGObsession, (1935).
“Manila American Cemetery: ABMC Burial Records,” Interment.net, (May 6, 2020).