Hands down, the Heisman Memorial Trophy Award is by far the most prestigious individual award in collegiate football. Presented annually to the most "outstanding" player in college football, and steps ahead of the Walter Camp and Maxwell Awards, which are presented to the "best" players in college football, the Heisman carries similar noteworthiness as the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award and even the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
This beautiful, Heisman Memorial Trophy 10K Gold Championship Ring is a salesman sample with Jay Berwagner's name on the side. It is approximately a size 10.5 and weighs 37.5 grams. The ring is in near-mint condition with a few light dings or scratches. Please call or text Scott Welkowsky with any questions (949) 246-0826
To football aficionados, Jay Berwanger is well-known as the winner of the first Heisman Trophy and the first player chosen during the National Football League's first draft. Less well-known is that he achieved his athletic successes at the University of Chicago, a school now more closely associated with Nobel prizes than big-time football. Berwanger, a halfback, played for the University of Chicago Maroons at a time when Chicago was a member of the Big Ten Conference before Robert Hutchins, the University's president, famously abolished varsity football in 1939.
In 23 varsity games in three seasons with the Maroons, he scored 22 touchdowns and kicked 20 extra points. He gained 1,839 yards on 439 rushes for a 4.2 average. As a sophomore, he played 60 minutes of every Big Ten conference game and was voted the team's MVP. During his collegiate career he returned 54 kickoffs and punts for a 31.8-yard average, completed 50 of 146 passes for 921 yards and caught 12 passes himself for 189 yards. He averaged 38 yards on 233 punts and 46.3 yards on 34 kickoffs. He once recorded 14 tackles playing linebacker in one half.
In 1935, the Chicago Tribune awarded Berwanger the Silver Football for Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten. His coach, Clark Shaughnessy, called him "every football coach's dream player. You can say anything superlative about him, and I'll double it." Of the 107 opposing team players he faced during his senior year, 104 said the six-foot, 195-pound Berwanger was the best halfback they had ever seen.
In November of 1935, Berwanger received a telegram from Manhattan's Downtown Athletic Club, informing him that he had won a trophy for being the "most valuable football player east of the Mississippi," as well as a trip for two to New York. "It wasn't really a big deal when I got it," Berwanger recalled in 1985. "No one at school said anything to me about winning it other than a few congratulations. I was more excited about the trip than the trophy because it was my first flight." The prize was later renamed the John W. Heisman Memorial Trophy, after the club's athletic director, the following year.
