The universally venerated status of football’s Heisman Trophy award and of its winners is revealed here through an intimate collection of profiles of some of the award’s most storied winners. The significance of the Heisman Trophy, according to Pennington, a former syndicated sports columnist and a reporter for The New York Times, resonates with athletes and spectators alike, perhaps more so than any other individual award in sports. "Every Heisman Trophy winner walks under a hero’s light; that is our responsibility and we are honored to have it," says 1940 Heisman winner Tom Harmon. "‘I have always known what that trophy means.... I saw what it means in the eyes of youngsters... They would come to my den and say, ‘Hey, there’s the Heisman.’ They would walk to the trophy and feel its outline, like it had a power they could touch." Pennington’s book offers readers the unique opportunity to consider each winner’s story within a particular historical context. From Nile Kinnick, known as "The Cornbelt Comet" of the ’30s, to West Point’s legendary ’40s backfield of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis; from Ernie Davis—the Jackie Robinson of college football—to "miracle worker" Doug Flutie, and modern-day Sunday warrior Eddie George, these intimate profiles are inspiring stories (Heisman winners have gone on to become war heroes, Fortune 500 CEOs and high-level politicians) told at a heart-racing pitch that will appeal to both serious college football fans and those with a casual interest in sports history.
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Book Description
Close your eyes and picture the
Heisman Trophy. The form is easy
to conjure, a graceful, fluid pose
that is football past and football present
in one dignified figure ...
The story of the Heisman Trophy
is an american epic.
-- from the Preface
No sport in America can match the pageantry, raw emotion, and thrilling tradition of college football. It is a world in which a twenty-year-old kid can become a national sensation overnight, in which coaches are deified and rivalries burn white-hot.
And in this world, there is no individual award so revered as the Heisman Trophy. Every year since 1935, one player has run, thrown, or kicked his way into the pantheon of American sport. From Nile "The Cornbelt Comet" Kinnick in the '30s, West Point's legendary backfield of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis in the '40s, and Paul Hornung in the '50s to Ernie Davis, the Jackie Robinson of college football, miracle worker Doug Flutie, and modern-day Sunday warrior Eddie George, the history of the Heisman gives us insight into the heart of America through the lives of the heroes that entranced an entire nation for one brilliant season. Extraordinary in ways that transcend athletic ability, Heisman winners have gone on to become war heroes, Fortune 500 CEOs, and high-level politicians.
As John Heisman himself once said, the Heisman Trophy "is meant to exemplify the grandeur of a thousand men." Here within these pages are intimate portraits of some of the winners who also exemplify the grit and glory of America's beloved game and of the coaching giants such as Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes, and Red Blaik, who inspired the winners to achieve.
Told in the evocative words of Pulitzer Prize -- nominated journalist Bill Pennington, their heart-stopping experiences on the field and off will have Americans enthralled until the final page is turned.
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