Hamp Pool

Who was Hamp Pool?

Hampton John "Hamp" Pool was a football player, coach and scout who was part of two National Football League championship teams during his playing career and served as head coach for three professional teams.

Pool graduated from Paso Robles High School in California in 1933, and played for the University of California, Berkeley's freshman football team that Fall. After entering the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for one year, he returned to resume his career at Stanford University, playing both wide receiver and defensive end, and also performing for the school's track team.

In the 1940 NFL Draft, he was a seventh round draft pick of the Chicago Bears and played four seasons with the Windy City team. During that stretch, he played at both fullback and wide receiver, catching 35 passes for 840 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns. His efforts helped the team to NFL titles in both 1940 and 1941, with Pool scoring one of the Bears' nine touchdowns in the 73-0 thrashing of the Washington Redskins in the 1940 title tilt. In 1942, the Bears were undefeated during the regular season, but were upset, 14-6, by those same Redskins in the NFL Championship game.