First Heisman winner stiff-armed the NFL

Entering the University of Chicago in 1963, I became aware of its tortured football history when a football club was formed to play the first game since football was abolished on the Quads in 1939. Some of my classmates weren't thrilled, storming the field before, not after the game, to prevent its return. And, for one game at least, they prevailed. It was hard to compare that sad resurrection with the early glory of UC football: founding member of the Big Ten in 1896, seven Big Ten titles between 1899 and 1924, national championships in 1905 and 1913, and, most startling, first recipient of the Heisman trophy in 1935 in the form of 'one man football team' Jay Berwanger. New York's Downtown Athletic Club awarded him their newly minted trophy (renamed the Heisman in '36) as the best college football player that year. Berwanger also snagged the Chicago Trib's Silver Football as best Big Ten player and was a unanimous All-American. Early in '36 the floundering NFL instituted the college draft to spread college talent to the weak teams struggling to survive. Even tight fisted George Halas, who could outbid his weak sisters for the best talent, agreed the draft was needed for NFL survival. No surprise that Philadelphia Eagles owner Bert Bell used his worst record first pick to draft Berwanger. But unlike today, signing with the NFL in '36, where most players received about $150 a game, was a fool's bet. When Berwanger asked for $1,000, Bell refused, trading his negotiating rights to Halas who lusted to make local hero Berwanger a Bear. But after waiting out a year Berwanger upped his price to 25 grand for two years with a no cut clause. Halas punted, leaving Berwanger to embark on a lucrative career manufacturing plastic car parts. Berwanger was not alone in passing on a shaky future with the dirt poor upstart professional league. Fifty-six others in that first draft of 81 college stars took Berwanger's path and stiff-armed unlikely future NFL wealth and glory. And that first Heisman? Berwanger never gave it much thought, handing it off to his Aunt Gussie who used it as a doorstop. At my UChicago Reunion No. 52 next June, I'll amble over to the University's Athletic Hall of Fame to gander at the trophy (since saved from doorstop duty) that started the annual Heisman Hoopla, and signaled the last glorious gasp of the original Monsters of the Midway.