The Heisman

Did a bit more research after the Jay Berwanger post on why the Heisman was named the Heisman the year after Berwanger won it. Well, it was named after John Heisman, the athletic director of the Downtown Athletic Club, the venue where the award originated. One year after Berwanger won the first trophy, Heisman died, and the trophy was named in his honor.

Heisman himself was also quite the player and coach back in the day. Actually, back many days, as he played during the turn of the century -- LAST century. Heisman pioneered such things as the shift, along with that wacky fad called the "forward pass."

Other Heisman fast facts:

• Only one player -- Archie Griffin (Ohio State) -- has won the award twice (1974 and 1975)
• Only eight winners of the Heisman (it has been awarded 74 times) are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame: OJ, Roger Staubach, Doak Walker, Paul Hornung, Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen. (No, not Joe Theisman, who never won it despite changing his name's pronunciation to mimic "Heisman.")

Source for today: Wikipedia