Berwanger, "Jay" (John J.)
Football
b. March 19, 1914, Dubuque, IA
d. June 26, 2002
An All-American quarterback at the University of Chicago in 1935, Berwanger won the first Heisman Trophy that year. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Berwanger could do the 100-yard dash in just over 10 seconds and he was a very dangerous runner. In three years as a starter, he gained more than 5,000 yards.
He scored on runs of 65 yards against Dartmouth in 1933, 97 yards against Iowa in 1934, and 85 yards against Ohio State in 1935. Berwanger was also a fine kicker, a good passer--in 1934 his touchdown passes won three games--and an excellent defensive player. Sportswriter Christy Walsh called him "a defensive backfield all by himself."
Berwanger wore a face protector after he suffered a broken nose as a freshman, and was sometimes called the "man in the iron mask."
The award Berwanger won in 1935 was then called the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, and it went to the player chosen by the DAC as the outstanding football player from a college east of the Mississippi. It was renamed in 1936 for John W. Heisman and the scope was extended to the entire country.
Years later, Berwanger said the award "wasn't really a big deal when I got it. I was more excited about the trip than the trophy because it was my first flight."
The National Football League began its draft of college players in 1936 and Berwanger was the first player ever selected, by the Philadelphia Eagles. They traded his rights to the Chicago Bears.
Berwanger wanted $25,000 for a two-year contract. But George Halas, owner-coach of the Bears refused to pay that much, so Berwanger never played pro football. Instead, he took a job as a foam-rubber salesman and eventually founded his own company, Jay Berwanger, Inc., to manufacture plastic and sponge-rubber strips for car doors, trunks and farm machinery.
He was also a part-time sportswriter for the Chicago Daily News and a football official, and he coached at the University of Chicago from 1936 through 1939.
Berwanger was the only Heisman recipient who was ever tackled by a future president of the United States. Gerald Ford, then a center-linebacker for the University of Michigan, tackled him during a game in 1934.
"When I tackled Jay in the second quarter, I ended up with a bloody cut and I still have the scar to prove it," Ford later recalled.