Kenny Thompson

The Allen County (Indiana) coroner declared former Purdue All-American Caleb Swanigan died Monday night of natural causes. I’ll add two contributing factors to Swanigan’s death at the age of 25: heredity and environment. There’s not much any of us can do about our family’s health history. Swanigan entered life with a big strike one in…

While researching part 2 of my series on Purdue football’s membership in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame, one trend stood out. Some of the state’s finest high school, college and professional football coaches had Boilermaker ties. A few, like Gordon Straley of West Lafayette, Pat McCaffrey of Lafayette Jeff and Bob Springer of Indianapolis…

Purdue’s membership in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame is growing by three in 2022 with the election of former NFL players Bruce King and Kyle Orton along with the late Alex Yunevich. The primary criteria for induction is contributing in a significant manner to the game of football in Indiana from the youth level…

The arrival of June means one thing to sports fans. No, not the NBA Finals or another month of losing for the Cubs and Reds. It’s time for the first college football season preview magazines to reach your local book store, pharmacy or favorite online retailer. Athlon Sports has released its All-Big Ten Conference teams,…

A few weeks ago, we explored what would happen if Purdue athletics would reverse its stance and retire numbers of its men’s basketball greats. Now we’ll take a look at which Purdue football legends should have their numbers retired. Unlike basketball, NCAA rules permit duplicate numbers to be worn as long as both players wearing,…

Now that the 2022 NFL Draft is history, it didn’t take long for national media to start thinking about prospects for 2023. A lot of guesswork goes into these projections. Which incoming juniors will make the jump like Purdue’s George Karlaftis and David Bell? Which seniors will improve enough from their junior years to become…

Erich Barnes always believed he belonged in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The former Purdue standout defensive back’s resume reads like a Hall of Famer. Barnes is one of the few NFL players to earn All-Pro honors with three different teams. Seven of his 45 career interceptions were returned for touchdowns. When he retired…

George Karlaftis became the 24th Purdue football player taken during the first round of a professional football draft, going 30th overall to the Kansas City Chiefs last week. His selection ended an 11-year first-round drought for the Boilermakers, whose last first-round pick was another All-American defensive end: Ryan Kerrigan. Those 23 first-round selections include three…

In these cynical times, from politicians who think lying is no big deal to college basketball transfers being publicly offered $800,000 and a car to sign with a new school, it was nice to see that tradition still means something. George Karlaftis shed a tear in a video produced by Purdue Athletics Communications when informed…

Ever since the New York Yankees honored the dying Lou Gehrig in 1939 by declaring no one would wear his No. 4 again, retiring uniform numbers has been seen as the ultimate tribute to an athlete. More than 80 years later, the Yankees have strayed off the path of honoring all-time greats. Paul O’Neill is…