[Deathwatch] Jay Berwanger, first Heisman Trophy winner, 88

[Deathwatch Central]

- another one from a reader.

First Heisman Trophy winner dead at 88 

Posted: Thursday June 27, 2002 2:01 PM
	  
CHICAGO (AP) -- Jay Berwanger, who won the first Heisman Trophy and
became the first player ever drafted by the NFL, died of lung cancer
after a long illness. He was 88. 

Berwanger died Wednesday night at his home in the Chicago suburb of Oak
Brook, University of Chicago spokesman Seth Sanders said Thursday. 

Berwanger was a halfback for the University of Chicago Maroons when the
team was a powerhouse in the Big Ten -- and before the school's
president abolished varsity football in 1939. 

In the days before platoon football, Berwanger had to pass, punt,
block, tackle, kick off, kick extra points and return punts and
kickoffs. 

"We didn't know any better," he said in 1999. "I loved playing defense
as much as offense. Today's platoon system lets more players play, so
it's good for the game and good for colleges." 

By modern standards, the six-foot, 195-pound Berwanger did not have
outstanding statistics the year he won the Downtown Athletic Club
award, as the Heisman was called in 1935. He had 577 rushing yards, 406
passing yards, 359 yards on kickoff returns and six touchdowns. 

The following year, the club award was renamed the John W. Heisman
Memorial Trophy, to honor the club's athletic director. 

Word that he won the honor was telegraphed to Berwanger's fraternity
house. It congratulated him for being named the nation's top player and
advising that two tickets to New York were coming in the mail. 

"The biggest thrill was that it was going to be my first airplane
trip," Berwanger said. 

Berwanger gave the trophy to his aunt to keep, and for years she
reportedly used it as a doorstop. He eventually gave the trophy to the
University of Chicago, where it is in storage while a new athletic
center is being built. 

"He was extraordinarily generous toward generations of students,"
university president Don Michael Randel said Thursday. "He returned
every year to Homecoming, and the grace he showed to the many who
idolized him was a sure sign of his genuine humanity." 

Born John Jay Berwanger in Dubuque, Iowa, he was a high school
wrestling and track star and won all-state honors as a halfback.
Recruited by Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue, he said he opted for
Chicago, even though it offered a mere $300 scholarship, because of its
reputation in business education. 

He was coached in his first year by Amos Alonzo Stagg and went on to
become the football team's captain, captain of the track team and
senior class president before graduating in 1936. 

Berwanger was the first player ever selected in the NFL draft. Chicago
Bears owner and coach George Halas acquired Berwanger's signing rights
from the Philadelphia Eagles. But the notoriously frugal Halas balked
at meeting Berwanger's demand for $25,000 over two years. 

Berwanger eventually passed on pro football and took a job as a
foam-rubber salesman. 

He later wrote a sports column for the Chicago Daily News, refereed
college football games and coached his former team for three years. 

Berwanger was a naval aviator during World War II, and later founded
Jay Berwanger Inc., a manufacturer of plastic and sponge-rubber strips
for cars doors and farm machinery. 

In 1954, Berwanger was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.


Berwanger is survived by two sons and a daughter.