Last week they awarded the Heisman trophy, but
many do not remember who John Heisman was and how he had the
trophy named for him.
He was a player, coach, and hugely successful innovator in the early days of football. He played for Brown and then Penn as a collegian from 1887 to 1891, then went on to coach a number of college teams. He changed the sport from placing the ball on the ground and rolling it from center to lifting and handing or passing it back to the quarterback. He also added more innovations to the game.
He was a player, coach, and hugely successful innovator in the early days of football. He played for Brown and then Penn as a collegian from 1887 to 1891, then went on to coach a number of college teams. He changed the sport from placing the ball on the ground and rolling it from center to lifting and handing or passing it back to the quarterback. He also added more innovations to the game.
During
1916, he coached Georgia Tech to the highest scoring game in
college football. While playing a makeshift Cumberland team,
his team outscored its opponent 222-0.
Heisman
became the athletic director at New York’s Downtown Athletic
Club, which awarded the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy to the
most valuable college football player east of the Mississippi.
He died after the first trophy was awarded and before the
second trophy could be awarded, the club voted to rename the
prize the Heisman Memorial Trophy Award and included college
players west of the Mississippi.
Incidentally,
The famous “Heisman pose” trophy is actually based on Ed
Smith, a former NYU running back who modeled for the
trophy’s sculptor in 1934.