Mark Kellar, who won the 1973 NCAA rushing title as a Northern Illinois fullback, dies at 71
Former Northern Illinois fullback Mark Kellar, the 1973 NCAA rushing champion and holder of six school records, died Nov. 23 in Minneapolis at age 71, according to an NIU news release.
A Crown High School graduate, Kellar was known as the “Carpentersville Crusher” at NIU, where he was team MVP in all three of his seasons (1971-73). His No. 31 jersey is one of four the Huskies have retired — along with Dave Petzke (6), George Bork (11) and Bob Heimerdinger (12) — and he was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983, the first year he was eligible.
As a senior in 1973, Kellar rushed for 1,719 yards in 11 games (156.3 per game) to outpace Pittsburgh’s Tony Dorsett (1,586), Penn State’s John Cappelletti (1,522) and Ohio State’s Archie Griffin (1,428) for the Division I-A rushing title. Cappelletti won the Heisman Trophy that year, and Griffin (1974-75) and Dorsett (1976) won the next three.
Kellar’s season total and his 246-yard game against Illinois State were school records at the time, and his career total of 3,745 yards remains fourth on the Huskies all-time rushing list behind Garrett Wolfe (5,164), Michael Turner (4,941) and Jordan Lynch (4,343).
The Minnesota Vikings drafted Kellar in the sixth round (No. 155) of the 1974 NFL draft, but he chose to play for the World Football League’s Chicago Fire that year and for the WFL’s Chicago Winds and San Antonio Wings in 1975. He played 33 games for the Vikings from 1976-78.
Kellar is survived by his brother Scott Kellar — also an NIU Hall of Famer at nose tackle — his sister Dawn Kellar McCoy and his daughters Marcella Ward, Grace Kellar and Meagan Kellar. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Washburn-McReavy Edina Chapel in Edina, Minn.
