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Barton "Botchey" Koch (April 22, 1907 – April 28, 1964) was an American college football player. He was the first consensus All-America football player from the Southwest Conference. He was elected to the Baylor Sports Hall of Fame in 1961, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974. He was named to the All Time Texas High School Team by Texas Football magazine in 1968 and to the "50-Year Super Stars" of the Southwest Conference by Texas Football magazine in 1969. In 1984, he was added to the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame.

Baylor University

After earning All-State football honors at Temple High School in Temple, Texas, Koch played guard for the Baylor Bears of Baylor University. In 1929 he was chosen for an All-Southern team selected by football fans throughout the south and published by the Central Press newspapers. In 1930 he was a consensus All-American. He was selected by famed sportswriter Grantland Rice as an All-America in Collier's Magazine for 1930. Knute Rockne also wrote of Koch's outstanding play in a letter to Baylor University shortly before Rockne's death in a plane crash. Koch was chosen the outstanding defensive player in the East-West Shrine Game at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium. It was a game in which the West defeated the East, 3–0. The San Francisco Chronicle reported, "there were a lot of great linemen in that game . . . but Koch was easily the best. A steamroller could not get over him." In 1940, Harry Stuhldreher, quarterback of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, and Rice named Koch to their All-Time All-American team for publication. "He was the best guard I ever saw," Stuhldreher said. "Rockne also told me he was far and away the best guard Knute ever saw. Koch was big, fast, smart and aggressive - a powerful lineman with a keen football brain. I haven't seen as good a guard since - either in college or pro."

References

1. "Southern Team". The Daily Courier. December 10, 1929.
2. e. g. "RICE PICKS ALL-AMERICA: Ticknor and Carideo, of 1929 Eleven, Named Again on Honor Team; Two Utility Players Added to Lineup". Charleston Daily Mail. December 19, 1930.
3. Turner, Thomas E. (1987). Baylor's Botchey. Baylor University, Waco Texas. p. 129.

External links

• Barton Koch at the College Football Hall of Fame

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• 1907 births
• 1964 deaths
• American football guards
• Baylor Bears football players
• All-American college football players
• All-Southern college football players
• College Football Hall of Fame inductees
• Temple High School (Texas) alumni
• Players of American football from Texas
• College football player stubs