The Heisman: Great American Stories of the Men Who Won

by Bill Pennington

Close your eyes and picture the Heisman Trophy. The form is easyto conjure, a graceful, fluid posethat is football past and football present in one dignified figure ...The story of the Heisman Trophyis 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 yearsince 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.

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Bill Pennington writes the "On Par" column and stars in the related video series on www.nytimes.com. Pennington, who covers a number of sports in addition to golf, joined the New York Times in 1997 from the Bergen Record, where he was a sports columnist. A six-time winner of the Associated Press Sports Editor’s writing award, Pennington has also written for the New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, and a number of other publications. A longtime golfer himself, Pennington grew up near some of New England’s historic golf courses, but he has not been able to get his handicap below 11. He lives with his wife, Joyce, and three children in Warwick, N.Y.

Reviews

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 2004 account of the Heisman trophy, how it originated, who won it, and the stories of some of the winners and how they received it. Many of the accounts are interesting and in some cases touching, since many of the players came from unhappy backgrounds. Others have even had criminal careers after winning the trophy. And some of them admit that winning the Heisman trophy would not be a free pass for doing bad later on.

Perhaps for legal reasons, the story of O. J. Simpson is covered as someone who was not convicted of the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, but "guilty in the public eye". Never mind there was no effort to find any other culprit and Simpson himself wrote a book, "If I did It". But even other Heisman trophy winners do not associate with him, and he makes no effort to befriend them.

An intriguing account, though fortunately not a hagiography of all of the winners.

[Fateh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was really good and gave a good context on early and Heisman winners up until the late '90s. I would recommend this book as a good read on everyone list. This book is very good for sports fans and people who watch sports.

[Kunal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that goes through the lives of several of the heisman trophy winners dating back to the 1950s. The book gives an in depth look into the lives of each of these players growing up and the obstacles they had to overcome to get awarded the Heisman trophy. Also, it is interesting to get an account of the life of these players after receiving the trophy from their NFL career to their lives post the NFL and how much the heisman trophy impacted their life. Although there were some cases such as OJ Simpson, that did not hold themselves to a higher level from a personal perspective after winning the trophy, the mass majority have become leading people in our society in terms of their charitable contributions and giving back to others. It is quite amazing also to just get to see the level of adversity and obstacles each one of these guys faced from the color of their skin, to growing up with blind parents, to growing up in the projects, etc. Definitely a great read for any college football fan out there

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting to learn about the backgrounds of past Heisman winners. It helped me renew my respect for the award after so many characters of ill refute have won it recently. The Heisman blog post

[Rose]

796.3 Pen

[Lindsay]

I actually shed a little tear at a couple of these stories. And can you really get too much Flutie glory?

[Charles G. Mocsiran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining history of the Heisman

This book is done very well. It's an east read. I hated that it ended so quickly. Many interesting facts about the trophy and it's recipients.