The First Heisman
The remarkable life of college football legend
Jay Berwanger
As college football prepares to crown its next Heisman Trophy winner this December, it’s worth remembering where the tradition began—and the remarkable local man who received the very first award.
So today’s trivia question: Who was the winner of the first Heisman Trophy?
If you answered Jay Berwanger, you are correct. But it’s a trick question. To be historically accurate, the prize was actually called the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy when Berwanger received it in its inaugural year, 1935.
The following year, it was renamed the Heisman Trophy after John Heisman, the president of the Downtown Athletic Club and wildly successful Georgia Tech coach.
The two-year All-American (1934-35) was also the first-ever pick in the year the NFL draft started-1936. Although the Philadelphia Eagles initially selected him, trade negotiation rights shifted to the Chicago Bears. But Bears coach George Halas wouldn’t agree to the $25,000, two-year contract Berwanger wanted.
Berwanger made it known he never regretted not playing professionally. “The only regret I have is that we weren’t talking seven or eight years later,” he said. His family later speculated that their father might have purposely quoted Halas an exorbitant amount for the day – the average salary for most players was about $150 per game. There wasn’t much money in pro football at the time, and it was the gifted athlete’s way of telling Halas he was ready to change paths and start a career.
“My timing was wrong as far as making money in professional football. But I’ve been successful in business and had a very enjoyable life. You just take the cards that are dealt you.”
– Jay Berwanger
Berwanger put his crisp, new business degree to work as he took a job in foam-rubber product sales. A few years later, he went out on his own. Jay Berwanger Industries (JBI), a manufacturing agency specializing in rubber and plastic, opened in 1948. The business is still operating on Warren Avenue in Downers Grove.
While the company turned out to be very successful, Berwanger had lived an entire life before starting it. Born John Jay Berwanger in 1914 in Dubuque, Iowa, he excelled in athletics from the beginning. He excelled in wrestling and track – in addition to football. By the time of his high school graduation, he was a renowned all-state halfback with offers from Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Purdue. But he decided on the University of Chicago -at the time one of the Big Ten- despite only a basic tuition scholarship, largely due to the business school’s excellent reputation.
Jay Berwanger at the University of Chicago, where he became college football’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1935.
Photo courtesy of the University of Chicago Library’s Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center
“Times were tougher then,” Berwanger was later quoted, referring to the Great Depression that loomed in the background. “I wanted to attend a school that would give me a first-rate education in business, without special treatment, so I would be prepared when opportunities were certain to return.”
The student-athlete had to hold several jobs to meet expenses, as Chicago had offered him only a $300 basic tuition scholarship. But the opportunities came.
The legendary football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, whose contributions largely shaped the game as it is currently known, coached him in his freshman year. Eventually, Berwanger was named captain of both the football and track teams. He was president of both his senior class and Psi Upsilon Fraternity.
Several times when Chicago played Michigan, Berwanger faced future president Gerald Ford. Once during a tackle, Ford – another excellent athlete – ended up with a bloody cut from Berwanger. The scar never left Ford’s face. Years later, Ford was quoted as saying, “Jay was most deserving of his Heisman. He was an outstanding runner as well as passer. He could kick, punt, and make field goals- and in those days the ball was round, so it was much harder to throw. I remember him fondly as one of the greatest athletes I’ve known.”
And not just in football. Berwanger showed such promise in decathlon that he could likely have earned a spot on the 1936 Olympic Team alongside Jessie Owens. But without regret, he later said, “If I had gone to the Olympics, I might never have earned my degree.”
After graduation, Berwanger refereed games and coached at the university in the late 30s. He had his own sports column in the Chicago Daily News and played a bit part in the movie The Big Game – a film about himself. He served his country when he enrolled in the Navy’s flight training program during World War II.
Berwanger married Philomena Baker, one of his university co-eds, in 1940. Together they raised two sons and a daughter in Oak Brook. Philomena passed away in 1975. He later married Jane Temple and welcomed her three children to his family.
Berwanger was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. He was part of Sports Illustrated’s 25-year anniversary All-America Team in 1989 – a tribute to players with accomplishments that exceeded the football field.
While Berwanger lived a storied life studded with huge milestones, friends remember him for the way he took things in stride. “When I won the first Heisman, the hoopla wasn’t even a blimp,” he was once quoted as saying. He had won a few things that year and might have ignored the telegram that informed him of the honor. But it mentioned a trip to New York via airplane – his real interest.
A statue honoring Jay Berwanger stands at his alma mater, Dubuque Senior High School in Iowa.
As for the trophy itself, he never knew exactly what to do with it. Too big for a knickknack shelf or mantelpiece, his aunt used it for years as a doorstop. Eventually, the award ended up in a place of honor at U of C’s athletic center.
He stayed very involved with both his high school and college alma maters and served on several boards and reunion committees for U of C, an event for which he returned every year, up to 2001, the year before he died. U of C President, Don Randel, remembered Berwanger as “an old-fashioned gentleman, whose modesty was never corrupted by his fame. He was one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet and also one of the greatest-ever college football players.”
“My timing was wrong as far as making money in professional football,” Berwanger was once quoted as having said. “But I’ve been successful in business and had a very enjoyable life. You just take the cards that are dealt you.”
