Ken Fritz, former Ohio State football All-America guard, dies at 66
Ken Fritz, a former All-America offensive guard for Ohio State who attempted to restrain Woody Hayes following his infamous punch in the 1978 Gator Bowl, has died. He was 66.
The news of his death was announced Tuesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, by Ironton High School’s football team.
Fritz played for Ironton before enrolling at Ohio State in 1976. He spent three seasons starting between left and right guard and was named a consensus All-American as a senior in 1979, when the Buckeyes were unbeaten and atop the Associated Press poll before falling to Southern California in the Rose Bowl.
“He was just a driving force on the offensive line,” said Doug Donley, then a wide receiver for the Buckeyes. “He was critical to our success. He was a leader.”
Fritz was a junior the previous year when he held back Hayes along the sideline late in the Gator Bowl after the legendary coach struck Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman, who had intercepted a pass from quarterback Art Schlichter.
The punch led to Hayes’ firing, ending his coaching career after nearly three decades at the helm of the Buckeyes.
In photos of the outburst, Hayes is seen grabbing Fritz’s facemask.
“They said Woody tried to punch Kenny,” Donley said. “Ken said, ‘No he wasn’t punching me, he was just trying to get loose.’ That’s my point about Kenny. He’s got your back. Even if he was trying to punch Ken, Ken wasn’t going to say anything negative about it. That’s the kind of guy he was. Just a good teammate.”
Fritz was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 10th round of the NFL draft in 1980.
Reporter Bill Rabinowitz contributed to this story.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Ohio State football player Ken Fritz dies at 66
