Alex Kroll (born November 23, 1937 in Leechburg, Pennsylvania) was an American football player and a now-retired major advertising agency executive. November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Leechburg is a borough located in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. ... In American football, each team has 11 players on the field at one time. ... The offensive team or offense in American football or Canadian football, is the team that begins a play from scrimmage in possession of the ball. ... This is a list of athletic conferences of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). ... Bills Dolphins Patriots Jets Ravens Bengals Browns Steelers Texans Colts Titans Broncos Chiefs Raiders Chargers Cowboys Giants Eagles Redskins Bears Lions Packers Vikings Falcons Panthers Saints Buccaneers Jaguars Cardinals Rams 49ers Seahawks The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from... The New York Jets are a National Football League team that plays its home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but is based on Long Island. ... November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... View along Market Street in Leechburg, PA during the summer, taken at 3:45 PM on June 29, 2004 Leechburg is a borough located in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Pittsburgh. ...

Early Life

Kroll's father worked as a laborer in one of the many steel mills that dotted the landscape of Leechburg and other Alle-Kiski Valley communities at that time. Kroll remembers the support system he had growing up with a large extended family that included “an aunt and uncle on almost every block.” He adds, “I was never sure if I were rich or poor. We didn’t have a car or a lot of other amenities, but it didn’t seem relevant because I had these wonderful supporters.”

Driven to succeed in athletics, Alex put himself on a rigorous physical training program. He was captain of the football team his senior year. His talent on the field won him a number of football scholarships, but he turned them down. Ranked second in his class academically, Alex chose to attend Yale on an academic scholarship. He played on Yale’s varsity football team, but a physical argument with a young associate professor got Kroll expelled during his sophomore year. YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment) is an environment for machine learning experiments and data mining. ...

He enlisted in the Army, serving two years in the military police. Kroll finished his undergraduate degree at Rutgers University. While there, he captained the football team and played center on the school’s first undefeated football team, making all seven All-American teams in 1961 and becoming a Henry Rutgers Scholar along the way. Rutgers redirects here. ... All-American, a Broadway musical with book by Mel Brooks, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Lee Adams, opened in New York on March 19, 1962, and played 80 performances. ...

Kroll played professionally for the New York Titans (later the Jets). In the off-season he worked as an advertising trainee with Young & Rubicam (Y & R). Young & Rubicam, Inc. ...

Life After Football

Alex Kroll spent his entire business career in advertising with Young and Rubicam, where he rose from cub copywriter in 1963 to CEO in 1985, retiring as Chairman and CEO at the end of 1994. Kroll rose rapidly through the ranks in just his first seven years, becoming Executive Vice-President and Creative Director at the agency in 1970 at the age of 33.

During his 10 years as CEO, Y&R’s worldwide billings increased 2 1/2 times, to $8 billion, and its offices more than doubled, to 331. Under his leadership, Y&R opened the first advertising agencies in Russia and China and built the largest agency network in Central and Eastern Europe. Bravo grew into America’s largest Hispanic agency. And, Y&R acquired Landor, the world’s leading identity and design company.

Kroll served as Chairman both for the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Advertising Council, the organization which produces most of the important public service advertising in the U.S. Under his leadership in 1997, the Council developed and launched a dramatic new strategy which focuses more than a billion dollars worth of donated media each year, for ten years, on the plight and problems of American children. The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is a private non-profit organization that distributes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including both non-profit organizations and government agencies. ...

Kroll still kept busy after his retirement, serving as a senior advisor to the Bill Bradley Presidential Exploratory Committee in 1998, which was formed by former U.S. Senate Democrat Bill Bradley of New Jersey. The committee's intent was to explore a presidential candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.

He is a recipient of the prestigious Horatio Alger Award, the NCAA Silver Medal for Excellence, the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award and the American Jewish Committee’s National Human Relations Award. Kroll is a member of both the National College Football Hall of Fame and the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Sources

Bill Bradley Presidential Exploratory Committee http://www.commondreams.org/pressreleases/Dec98/120498c.htm The Horatio Alger Association http://www.horatioalger.org/members/member_info.cfm?memberid=kro93 AAF Hall of Fame http://www.advertisinghalloffame.org/members/member_bio.php?memid=680&uflag=k&uyear=