AMES, Iowa - Everett "Rabbit" Kischer, who quarterbacked the 1938 Iowa State football team to a 7-1-1 record, earning All-America honors in the process, died last week in Brewster, Mass. He was 94 years old.

Kischer came to Iowa State from Albert City (Iowa) High School, where had been an all-conference and all-state selection in football and basketball. The valedictorian of his class of 1935, Kischer went to Iowa State to study engineering with no plans to participate in athletics.

Iowa State head football coach George Veenker noticed Kischer's kicking ability and Kischer was soon on the Cyclone football team. Kischer, who stood just 5-9 and weighed only 155 pounds, made an indelible mark on the Iowa State football program. The Cyclone quarterback began to shine as a sophomore under Veenker. The Cyclones went 3-3-2 in 1936 without losing at State Field. In a 1937 game against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., Kischer picked off four Wildcat passes to set the ISU record for interceptions in a game. Standout Barry Hill equaled the mark 37 years later.

The Chicago Daily News had high praise for Kischer the following day.

"Iowa State centered its threats in the all-around and really brilliant ability of Everett Kischer, a rugged, fast-moving quarterback."

Kischer's former teammate Duncan Glab described "The Rabbit's" triple-threat ability.

"Everett was great," Glab said. "He passed and he ran and he kicked, and he also had to play defense because you played both ways in those days. He was quick and awful good. He was a real leader."

During the 1938 season, the Cyclones earned the distinction of being the first Iowa State squad to receive a national ranking on the Associated Press poll, making the 18th spot. The team, under the direction of "Smilin" Jim Yeager, led by Kischer and All-American lineman Ed Bock, scored an historic 8-7 win at Nebraska.

The victory was Iowa State's first win since 1919 vs. the Cornhuskers. The Des Moines Register recounted the next day "never did a team from Iowa fight for victory like the Cyclones did, and when it seemed they no longer could withstand the flow of Nebraska reserves, they kept right on fighting and got the sweet reward of the first Iowa State victory over the Cornhuskers in 19 years."

The win in Lincoln was a high watermark in Iowa State history. Nebraska came into the game with a 31-1-3 record in Big Six play since 1931. Yeager was effusive after the game.

"We've waited 19 years for this victory," Yeager said. "I’m so excited I can hardly talk. I can’t say anything too good for Kischer, Bock, (Gordon Ruepke) and the whole gang."

The Cyclones' only loss came to a No. 7 Oklahoma squad by the score of 10-0. The game was played in front of a record Clyde Williams Field crowd of 21,500.

Kischer was a unanimous selection to the Associated Press all-Big Six team that fall. He also was selected to the Chicago Tribune College All-Star team where he teamed with future Hall of Fame Chicago Bear Sid Luckman. The Newspaper Enterprises Association selected Kischer to its third-team All-America squad.

In 1939, Kischer was chosen by the Chicago Bears in the NFL draft but he chose to start his working career with General Electric.

While working for General Electric in Lynn, Mass., Kischer met and married Eleanor Marie Peterson, who was a fellow GE employee. The couple married in Albert City in June of 1944. Everett and Eleanor had one son, Scott who now lives in Wheaton, Ill., with his wife Bonnie. Scott is a former Iowa State baseball and basketball player.

"Dad would talk about his playing days on occasion," Scott Kischer said. "He especially enjoyed his relationships with Ed Bock, Bill Bliss and the rest of his Cyclone teammates."

Kischer also was a B-29 Flight Engineer during World War II and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the war. After the war was over Everett and Eleanor moved to Lynnfield, Mass. where Everett worked for over 40 years. He retired from General Electric in 1985.

Eleanor died on Oct. 28, 1978 from ovarian cancer after having been married to Everett for 34 years. Kischer married Anne Currie from Swampscott, Mass. in 1980.

Kischer was inducted into the Iowa State University Letterwinners Hall of Fame in September of 2001.