John W. Heisman was born October 18, 1869 in Cleveland, Ohio but grew up in Titusville, Pa. He played various sports throughout his primary education. His college career is where his football career took hold at Penn State. He was scrawny, 5 foot 8 and weighed 158 lbs but wore many hats on the team: guard, center, tackle and end. He was on the varsity team for three seasons.
After college, Heisman began an incredible coaching journey that lasted over three decades, having gigs at Georgia Tech, Auburn, Clemson and the University of Pennsylvania to name a few.
Heisman remained active in football after retirement. He wrote articles in magazines and also served in advisory positions. He was the founder of the Touchdown Club of New York a.k.a the National Football Coaches Association.
In addition, he was the first official Athletic Director of the Downtown Athletic Club (DAC) in NYC. It was through his position at DAC that Heisman put into place the voting system where the best collegiate football player would be celebrated- the DAC Award.
The first DAC award went to Chicago’s, Jay Berwanger. That would be the one and only DAC Award ever given out. Sadly, Heisman died of pnuemonia prior to the 1936 induction. The Board of DAC voted unanymously to change the name.
Thus the bronzed God was born- labeling excellence.
Reference: www.heisman.com
Welcome to MD Bird Lover 