A native of Toronto, Ohio, Hinkle played college football for the Bucknell Bison from 1929 to 1931.

"[6] Hinkle played for the East team in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco on New Year's Day 1932.

He was the leading ground gainer in the game,[8] and a United Press correspondent wrote: "If there was a single star in the long drawn battle of line plunges and punting it was Clark [sic] Hinkle of Bucknell whose stabs through tackle were a revelation in driving power.

[1] As a rookie in 1932, Hinkle appeared in 13 games and led the Packers with 331 rushing yards on 95 carries.

[1] He quickly developed a reputation not only for his two-way play on both offense and defense, but also as the best punter in the NFL.

[15] He was hailed by Curly Lambeau at the end of the 1932 season as a second Jim Thorpe,[16] and by some critics as "the greatest football player in the world today.

"[17] After spending the off-season working for a steel construction firm in his home town of Toronto, Ohio, Hinkle returned to Green Bay in September 1933.

[20] Despite the team's poor showing, Hinkle was selected as a second-team All-Pro by the UP, Chicago Daily News, and Green Bay Press-Gazette.

[1] Hinkle's playing career was cut short after the 1941 season by wartime military service.

It didn't matter which side of the ball he was coming from, Hinkle loved delivering blows.

Hinkle's rushing yardage record stood until 1949 when it was broken by Steve Van Buren.

[43] His marriage ended immediately after World War II owing to difficulty readjusting to civilian life, causing Hinkle to, in his own words "get off the beam a little bit" and go "a little haywire.

[45] In the fall of 1942, he served as an assistant football coach at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.

[46] He also played five games for New London's professional Electric Boat Diesel football team.

[47] Hinkle was discharged from the Coast Guard in 1946 and began working for Kimberly-Clark in Neenah, Wisconsin.

[47] He later lived in Steubenville, Ohio, working as a sales representative for an industrial supply company.