Heisman Trophy [2] Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nile Kinnick

Nile Kinnick won the Heisman in 1939. Like many early Heisman winners, he eschewed professional football and entered law school with an ambition of entering politics. This came to an end in 1943 when his navy plane was lost in the Caribbean. In the now defunct 1940 College All-Star game against the Green Bay Packers, Kinnick passed for two touchdowns and drop kicked four extra points in route to a 45 to 28 loss.

Answer: Tom Harmon

Harmon played at Michigan. In his final game against Ohio State in 1940, he rushed for 139 yards, kicked four extra points, and had three interceptions on defense. Not many two-way players left today.

Harmon appeared briefly as an actor in films but became a sportscaster. His son Mark Harmon was a star athlete at UCLA and also an actor who starred in the long running series "NCIS". His daughter Kelly is also an actress. His other daughter Kristen married popular singer Ricky Nelson. His grandchildren, Mathew and Gunner Nelson are musicians and Tracy Nelson is an actress.

Answer: Dick Kazmaier

After setting many football records at Princeton in 1951, Kazmaier declined professional football and entered Harvard Business School. He later established an investment firm.

His daughter Patty Kazmaier was an Ivy League star in ice hockey. When she died of a rare blood disease at 28, the Patty Kazmaier Award was developed and is given each year to the outstanding woman collegiate hockey player in her memory.

Answer: Paul Hornung

Hornung won the Heisman in 1956 despite playing on a losing Notre Dame team that finished 2-8. In order to serve his military obligation, he was allowed to play on leave from the Army on weekends, thanks to his coach Vince Lombardi intercession with President Kennedy.

In 1963, he and Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions were suspended for reportedly betting on games and consorting with undesirables. Hornung returned to Green Bay in 1964. Although he was on the roster for the first Super Bowl, he did not play due to injuries. An anecdote was told by Max McGee at a personal appearance. Max and Paul were both noted for their devil-may-care life styles. They shared a room on the road. Vince Lombardi was strict on bed-checks. When they heard Vince coming down the hallway, Max and Paul jumped in the same bed and put their arms around each other. Lombardi opened the door and closed it quietly and did not do a bed-check on their room for the rest of the season.

Answer: O.J. Simpson

There was some talk of rescinding his award, but Simpson had to sell it to meet legal obligations.

Answer: Jim Plunkett

Both Plunkett's parents were legally blind. Plunkett had pro football offers to give up his senior year at Stanford, but he stayed because of being something of a role model to Hispanic youth whom he urged to stay in school. His professional career had a lot of ups and downs, but he was the starter in two Super Bowl games, one with the Oakland Raiders and one with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1980 and 1983, and won both.

Answer: Charlie Ward

Charlie Ward said he did not want to play football unless he was a first round draftee. The pros considered him 'too small' for the NFL so he turned to professional basketball where he played mostly as a back-up point guard for the New York Knicks. He did play for San Antonio and Houston in the latter part of his NBA career.

He had a 36% average from three-point range and averaged four assists per game.

Answer: Ron Dayne

Dayne, in addition to his 1999 Heisman, was the MVP in both the 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowls. The Big Ten Conference named him the Outstanding Player of the Conference in 2000. His professional career never quite lived up to his collegiate career.

Answer: Doug Flutie

That play is a staple of sportscasters when they need footage. After being drafted in the 11th round and 285th overall, Flutie turned to the short-lived United States Football League. After bouncing around on three NFL teams, Flutie fled to Canada where he was name MVP six times and became the first player from the United States to enter the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Returning to the NFL, he played for the Bills, Chargers, and Patriots between 1998 and 2005.

He also headed the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism in honor of his son.

Answer: Ernie Davis

Ernie Davis is one of the saddest stories in American football. He was the first Black player to win the Heisman in 1961 and the first Black player to be a number one draft pick in the NFL. He never played in an NFL game as he was diagnosed with leukemia and died at 23.

At the 1960 Cotton Bowl where he was named the MVP, he was told that he could come to the banquet and pick up his award, but would be asked to leave as the facility was segregated. There are various stories of what happened, but Davis did not attend. One story is that the whole team refused to attend.

Another is that the team did attend but the three other black players were asked to leave after the awards were given.