Last night in New York City a college football player was awarded the Heisman Trophy by the Heisman Trophy Trust.
That fella in the sweater pictured above? Yeah, it’s John W. Heisman, the namesake of the award during his final season as coach at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania (1922). The man next to him in the photo is Quakers’ assistant coach, F. Harold Gaston.
In addition to coaching at Penn, Heisman spent time on the sidelines at Oberlin (OH), Buchtel (now Akron), Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Washington & Jefferson, and Rice. He compiled a career record of 186-70-18. He also coached some basketball and baseball along the way and served as an athletic director.
A veritable man for all seasons, it would seem.
The reason his name’s on the Trophy, however, has as much to do with his work in innovating the sport as anything: he’s credited with the hidden ball play, the handoff, double lateral, flea flicker, pulling guards on end runs, and center-to-quarterback direct snap. He also helped popularize the forward pass and is believed to the be the first to have his quarterbacks utilize “hep” or “hike” to start a play.
Oh yeah, after retirement from Rice University in 1927, he became the athletic director at the Downtown Athletic Club until his death after a bout of pneumonia at age 66 in 1936. Two months later, the DAC dedicated an annual award named the Heisman Memorial Trophy. The first winner was Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago.
Heisman had nothing to do with the design of his eponymous trophy. It was designed and crafted following his death by 23-year-old sculptor, Frank Eliscu, whose directive was to create something that was “the embodiment of a muscular footballer driving for yardage.”
Facts About the Heisman Trophy
- Stands 14 inches tall
- Is 14 inches long
- Is 6 inches wide
- Weighs 45 pounds
Heisman Trophy Trivia
Q: Who are the only two Heisman Trophy winners to have played Major League Baseball?
(Submit your answers to hilldouglast@gmail.com. A random draw of correct responses received by Wednesday, December 17 at 11:59 p.m. ET, will be entered to win a small memento gathered during my travels as part of the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project.)
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor Newsalum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
Vic Janowicz would be one of the two. Might have been the first?