Kinnick, Nile
Football
b. July 9, 1918, Adel, IA
d. June 2, 1943
His great football ability, combined with an early death as a war-time fighter pilot, made Kinnick one of college football's brightest legends. A 5-foot-9, 175-pound quarterback, Kinnick led the University of Iowa to a surprising 6-1-1 record in 1939. He was named an All-American, won the Heisman Trophy as the outstanding college player of the year, and was named the Associated Press athlete of the year.
He began the season by scoring 23 points on 3 touchdowns and 5 conversions in a 41-0 win over South Dakota. The following week, Iowa beat Indiana for the first time since 1921 when Kinnick decided to pass on fourth down rather than trying a field goal to tie the game. He threw for a touchdown to win the game 29-26.
After a loss to powerful Michigan, Kinnick threw three touchdown passes to beat Wisconsin 19-13. Against previously unbeaten Notre Dame, Kinnick punted 16 times for an average of nearly 46 yards to keep the game close, ran for Iowa's only touchdown, and kicked the conversion to win the game, 7-6.
Iowa was trailing Minnesota 9-0 in the fourth quarter, but Kinnick threw two touchdown passes, of 45 and 28 yards, for a 13-9 win. After having played 402 consecutive minutes, Kinnick suffered a shoulder injury in the final game of the season, against Northwestern. Iowa was winning 7-0 when he left, but the game ended in a 7-7 tie.
During that remarkable season, Kinnick accounted for 998 yards of total offense, a record for an 8-game schedule. Either scoring or throwing touchdown passes, he was involved in 107 of Iowa's 130 points. He also had 8 pass interceptions and returned kicks for a total of 377 yards.
His coach, Eddie Anderson, said of Kinnick, "He was a perfectionist, never satisfied unless he could come as close as he could to absolute perfection in any move he made."
Kinnick was a U. S. Navy fighter pilot during World War II. He was killed when his plane crashed in the Caribbean after its engine died.