The national media is going crazy doing stories about John Krahn, the gigantic lineman from M.L. King of Riverside. Is he really the biggest person ever to play football?
And as usual with national media stories like this one, nobody ever checks with people (like us at Cal-Hi Sports) who actually have tracked such things for many years through the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac (published seven times).
Krahn is currently listed as a 7-foot, 445-pound senior and he does play for the Wolves, which was shown on video from the team’s 56-7 lopsided loss from one week ago to state-ranked Santa Margarita.
In California history, however, he is not the tallest to have ever played prep football. We did an item in 1985 on Ed Christiansen of Roseville, who also checked in at 7-foot in heighth. Christiansen just wasn’t as heavy as Krahn is now with a listed weight of 305.
For the heaviest, that’s hard to say. We have always listed 6-foot-1, 447-pound Bob “Big Man” Pointer of Santa Barbara, who played for the Dons with future Rose Bowl MVP Sam Cunningham in 1967.
Since John Krahn is at 7-foot, 445 pounds, that’s the same height as the tallest we’ve ever heard of in California and just a couple of pounds lighter than the heaviest. It’s therefore accurate to say he’s “the biggest” player ever known in state history.
For all of these players, the trivial aspect of their height and weight isn’t as important as most of them losing weight. It’s a health issue after all and we hope they all live fruitful, impactful lives.
