Pentathlete, Heisman Trophy-winner, All-American, NFL halfback—Olympian.
Of all Morton A. Kaer’s accomplishments, which extraordinarily even included rooming and playing football with John Wayne at the University of Southern California—he spoke most affectionately of being born in Omaha. Nicknamed “Devil May Kaer” for his derring-do athleticism and chiseled movie-star good looks, the Nebraska native lived a storied life well worth remembering. As we celebrate the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, it’s fitting to look back at a man who medalled for the United States 100 years ago during the 1924 Olympics in the very same city.
Kaer stemmed from Danish roots. His father, Andrew, immigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1869, settling in Omaha, where he eventually owned a grocery store. Shortly after, he married Ellen Armour from Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Their son, Mortan, was born on September 7th, 1903, as the youngest of four children.
When Mort was 8 years old, the Kaers moved to Red Bluff, California, where the elder Kaer ran a peach farm and served as a preacher. In an oral history interview with the LA84 Foundation in November 1987, Kaer shared, “It seems like I was always running. There was a lot of wide open land where we lived. I remember chasing jackrabbits, jumping hedges, and so forth. Then one day I lost a race to two other guys, and that kind of made me mad. So the next time we raced, why I won. And I don’t remember losing many races after that. I was pretty much a natural athlete, I guess."
This natural athleticism led young Mort to become part of Bluff High School athletics. There, he played football and ran track, breaking records as he raced, hurdled, and jumped. Regarded as one of the best student athletes ever to have attended the school, Kaer still holds the broad jump record at 23 feet and 2 and three-quarter inches.
In 1923, Kaer attended USC, where he pledged Sigma Chi. “At our fraternity initiation, they took us way out somewhere in the hills above Santa Monica, and we had to get back to school somehow. Well, I had hidden some money in my sleeve and got on one of those red cars and was back at school in no time,” he mischievously confessed. “I slept over on Bovard Field [on USC’s campus], because I knew if I showed up that quick, they’d send me right back out.”
Sigma Chi aside, Kaer’s defining experience at USC was playing on the varsity football team in several positions, including quarterback, running back, and defense. One of his teammates was John Wayne. “He played on the offensive line,” Kaer remembered. “He was then known as Marion Morrison. I remember running into John years later; he was real glad to see me, a real nice guy. But all these men around him, his guards, I guess, made it hard to get through to see him.”
Before his sophomore year, Kaer tried out to participate in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, France, and quickly secured a spot on the US team. This was the final year that the Classic Pentathlon was an Olympic event, and Kaer’s brother sent him a “good-luck” telegram that pithily said: “Go get ‘em, Sparky!” He later recalled that numerous passengers (save him) became violently seasick on the way across the Atlantic and that a French man accidentally electrocuted himself while attempting to repair the wiring at the chateau where Kaer and his teammates were staying. Everyone chipped in some money for the man’s family.
Kaer took the bronze medal for America in the five-event competition. (Events included long jump, javelin throwing, discus throw, 200 meter dash, and 1,500 meter run). He later shared that he had competed with extreme dental pain, noting, “I always figured I might have done better without that ulcerated tooth.” Still, he enjoyed interacting with the Japanese team, who congratulated him on his discus throw, and the British athletes, who, he averred, “showed the best sportsmanship; they would cheer for whoever won, not just their own athletes. I was real impressed with that.”
Kaer was less impressed with Parisian nightlife, which he experienced with teammate Lee Barnes. “We went to a show one night, but something happened and we didn’t get to go in. Then a guy came, and he said that his show was better. When we got inside, we saw that is was a strip show. Well, I told Lee I didn’t want to stay,” Kaer chuckled.
“Lee said, ‘We’re here; we might as well stay.' I said, ‘I’m going to go.’ And then Lee agreed and said, ‘Okay.’ Then, as we were leaving, this girl at the door tried to make us stay. Anyway, she finally let us leave.”
After his victory in the Olympics, Kaer returned first to Red Bluff, where a band was waiting to welcome the Olympic hero, and then returned to USC. In 1925, Kaer became an All-American tail back with 576 yards rushed and 19 touchdowns. In 1926, he played the first USC-Notre Dame game, recalling that “it seemed that all the people in the Coliseum were rooting for Notre Dame. They were the smartest team we ever played; they seemed to know our plays as well as we did.” USC lost that game to Notre Dame 13-12, and Kaer was hit hard out of bounds. “Ever since then I’ve had this bent rib,” he lamented.
Injury aside, Kaer’s athletic prowess prompted Los Angeles sports writer Braven Dyer to coin the “Devil May Kaer” moniker, an apt nickname for such an athletic phenom.
By the end of his three-year football career at USC, he had rushed a total of 1588 yards, a record broken only by Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson in 1968. Kaer’s 41 touchdowns via running and passing remain in USC’s archived records.
After graduating from USC in 1926, Kaer went on to participate twice in the East versus West Shrine Game in San Francisco, played amateur and semi-pro football, and spent two years with the Philadelphia Yellowjackets (now the Philadelphia Eagles) in 1931 and 1932. Kaer, who by then had married his wife, Vera, didn’t much care for all the travel involved with playing professional football. Then there was the salary issue: “Towards the end of the season, we weren’t getting paid, so everyone went home,” he confided. “The next year, they came back as the Philadelphia Eagles; they did that because they owed us money and would have had to pay us if they were still called the Yellowjackets.”
Following his illustrious athletic career, Kaer went on to accept a coaching position at the University of Nevada, leading the freshman team in an undefeated season. He then tried his hand at coaching at the high school level for Weed High School in Weed, California. This is where his coaching passion flourished. Equality among players was paramount to Kaer, and he kept this philosophy until he retired from coaching in 1972. “I have but one system,” Kaer would say, “that is to treat each individual the way he believes he should be treated.”
Asked what his piece of advice would be to both athletes and coaches, he responded: “You’d be surprised what you can do with some kids if they really want to work hard…I think you can’t let up—you may have the talent, but you still have to work hard.” Kaer, who himself had worked hard his entire life, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the USC Athletic Hall of Fame.
Retirement was peaceful, with Kaer spending his time traveling, hunting, and fishing—all the things he loved outside sports. He and Vera shared a son and daughter and eight grandchildren. Son Mort Jr. followed in his father Devil May Kaer’s cleat steps and attended USC on a football scholarship. A diagnosis of atherosclerosis caused cardiac dysrhythmia, which eventually led to cardiac arrest. Kaer passed away in 1992 at the age of 89, but his legacy lives on, and in 2014 he was inducted into the Northern California Sports Association Hall of Fame.
“He is often forgotten because so much time has passed since he was known to the world,” said Samantha Ingersoll, Kaer’s great granddaughter, who today lives in Omaha. “He was an amazing man and should be remembered for all he accomplished at his young age. He was a small boy from Omaha who moved west to make the American Dream real.”
For more information, visit olympics.com/en/athletes/morton-kaer.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.