The First Heisman Trophy Winner Attended Dubuque Senior

With the college football playoffs ongoing and the NFL playoffs soon to be underway, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the very first Heisman Trophy winner. Every year, at the conclusion of each college football season, the top player in college football is awarded the prestigious Heisman Trophy.

Would you believe the very first recipient of the award is from Dubuque, IA, not to mention a graduate of Dubuque Senior High School? Here's the story of Jay Berwanger...

The Football Career of Jay Berwanger:

Born in Dubuque in 1914, Jay Berwanger attended Dubuque Senior (then Dubuque High) where he showed off his skills at wrestling and track in addition to football. He played halfback. Upon graduation, Berwanger took his talents to the University of Chicago, who offered him the base level scholarship of $300/year.

Like many football players of his era, Berwanger was versatile. He called plays, ran, passed, punted, blocked, kicked off, kicked extra points, and more, per the official Heisman website. Of all his nicknames, my favorite is probably "The One-Man Team."

In 1935, Berwanger received the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, which would then become known as the "Heisman Trophy" the following year. Berwanger is the only Heisman recipient who was tackled by a future President of the United States. Indeed, he was tackled by then-Michigan Wolverine Gerald Ford.

Berwanger was the First Player Ever Drafted into the NFL:

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While official stats for Berwanger's time at Chicago do not exist, the Heisman website does give estimates based on historical records:

[Berwanger] rushed for 1,839 yards on 439 carries, averaged 4.2 yards per rush with 22 touchdowns, kicked 20 extra points and completed 50 of 146 passes for 921 yards. He also averaged 46.3 yards on 34 kickoffs and 38 yards on 233 punts - per the Heisman's website

As if the history of football couldn't already be written without mention of Berwanger, the Dubuque product was the first ever player chosen for the National Football League by way of the 1936 NFL Draft. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted him first overall, and Coach George Halas of my Chicago Bears acquired his signing rights.

However, Halas didn't kowtow to Berwanger's salary demands. He wanted $25,000 over two years, which Halas thought was too pricey. So, Berwanger quit football and took a job as a foam-rubber salesman. Talk about a different time. This year, Cam Ward was selected first overall by the Tennessee Titans. He signed a fully guaranteed four-year, $48 million contract.

Life After Football for Berwanger:

Following his football career, Berwanger enrolled in the Navy's flight-training program and became a naval officer during World War II. He also wrote a sports column for the Chicago Daily News from 1936 to 1939. Later, he established his own company focused on plastic and sponge-rubber strips for car doors, trunks, and farm machinery in Downers Grove, IL — where I went to high school, fun fact.

Berwanger was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954, and spent the remainder of his life in DuPage County until his death on June 26th, 2002 at the age of 88-years-old. An incredible life well lived, and an indispensable part of Dubuque's storied history.

Read more about Dubuque native Jay Berwanger, the first ever Heisman Trophy winner, on Wikipedia.