Jay Berwanger

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Jay Berwanger
Date of birth	March 19, 1914(1914-03-19)
Place of birth	Dubuque, Iowa
Date of death	June 26, 2002 (aged 88)
Position(s)	Running back
College	Chicago
NFL Draft	1936 / Round 1/ Pick 1
Awards	1935 Heisman Trophy
College Football Hall of Fame

John Jay Berwanger (March 19, 1914 - June 26, 2002) was an American football player born in Dubuque, Iowa. He was the first winner of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy in 1935 (the following year, though, the award was renamed the Heisman Trophy). Berwanger had been a star at the University of Chicago under coach Amos Alonzo Stagg (both of whom were members of the Psi Upsilon fraternity). In a 1934 game against the University of Michigan, Berwanger left his mark on Michigan center Gerald Ford in the form of a distinctive scar beneath the future President's left eye.[1]

Berwanger also competed in track & field for the University of Chicago, setting a school decathlon record in 1936 that stood for over 70 years. It was recently broken by Zach Rodgers in 2007.[2]

In 1936, Berwanger was also the first player to be drafted by the National Football League in its initial college draft; he was selected first overall by the Philadelphia Eagles. However, he chose not to turn professional and never played in the NFL.

After graduating, Berwanger was a sportswriter and later became a manufacturer of plastic car parts. He was very modest about the Heisman and used the trophy as a doorstop in his library. The trophy was later bequeathed to the University of Chicago Athletic Hall of Fame, where it was on display as of 2007. There is also a replica of the Heisman on display in the trophy case in the Nora Gymnasium at Dubuque Senior High School.

[edit] External links

• University of Chicago News Office: Jay Berwanger obituary
• College Football Hall of Fame bio

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