John Kissell

Who was John Kissell?

John Jay "Big John" Kissell was an American football defensive tackle who played for the Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference and the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League in the 1940s and 1950s. He played college football at Boston College.

Kissell grew up in Nashua, New Hampshire, and attended Boston College on an athletic scholarship. He played there for the 1942 season, when the school's football team made the Orange Bowl but lost to Alabama. He then entered the U.S. Army during World War II, serving in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for three years. He returned to college after the war and played football for two more seasons.

Kissell signed with the Bills in 1948 and played there for two years before the AAFC dissolved and the team disbanded. He was then sent to the Browns in a deal orchestrated by coach Paul Brown to acquire former Buffalo players. He played in Cleveland through 1956, interrupted by one year with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. He was part of a defensive line that featured Len Ford, Don Colo and Bob Gain, who helped the Browns win NFL championships in 1950, 1954 and 1955.