Melvin Jack Hein (August 22, 1909 – January 31, 1992), nicknamed "Old Indestructible",[1][2] was an American professional football player.

Hein played college football as a center for the Washington State Cougars from 1928 to 1930, leading the 1930 team to the 1931 Rose Bowl after an undefeated regular season.

He was selected as a first-team All-Pro for eight consecutive years from 1933 to 1940 and won the Joe F. Carr Trophy as the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1938.

[3] His father, Herman Hein (1886–1940), was a California native of German and Dutch ancestry who worked as an electrician for a power house operator.

[4] By 1920, the family was living in Glacier in Whatcom County, Washington, where Hein's father was working as a lineman on transmission lines.

In 1927, Hein enrolled at Washington State College in Pullman joined Sigma Nu fraternity and played center for the Cougars from 1928 to 1930.

The 1930 team won the Pacific Coast Conference championship and were undefeated in the regular season, but fell to Alabama in the Rose Bowl.

Hein had planned to retire after a dozen years in the NFL and become the head coach at Union College in Schenectady, New York.

For the next three years, he held that position, though the 1943 and 1945 Union College teams had their seasons cancelled due to the disruption of losing many players to World War II.

[21] In March 1947, Hein was hired as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

[27] Hein resumed his position as an assistant coach under Jimmy Phelan on the 1948 Dons team that again compiled a 7–7 record.

In June 1966, Hein was hired by commissioner Al Davis as the supervisor of officials for the American Football League.