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Nile Kinnick correspondence, December 1942-March 1943
1990-11-30: Front
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By Mike Conklin Speech! Speech! The Heisman Trophy award, emanating from New York City's Downtown Athletic Ckub, will be televised Saturday. It's almost predictable. There will be tight shots of leading candidates, sitting in a row and looking uncomfortable in ties and jackets. Most likely, they'll be flanked by a parent or two with their schools' PR men not far away. When the winner is announced, he'll march forward and, with a few beads of perspiration on his forehead, deliver what has become the most predictable part of the program--painful-to-listen-to, forgettable speech. If candidates wanted to do research, they couldn't do better than to borrow from Nile Kinnick's acceptance speech in 1939 at the Heismann ceremony. It's generally considered the most eloquent address given by a winner. Kinnick was a 5- foot-8-inch, 170-pound halfback who led an undermanned Iowa team under a new coach to a 6-1-1 record. It had gone 1-6-1 the previous season. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa later in his senior year. Considering Germany had invaded Poland a few months before he won the trophy, his speech is noteworthy as well as applicable today, with the Persian Gulf crisis upon us. After walking to the podium, this is what he said: "Thank you very, very much. It seems to me that everyone is letting their superlatives run away with them this evening. But nonetheless, I want you to know that I'm mighty, mighty happy to accept this trophy. Every football player in these United States dreams of winning this trophy and this fine trip-to New York. Every player considers Kihnick that trophy the acme in recognition of this kind. And the fact that I'm actually receiving this trophy tonight almost overwhelms me. I know that all those boys who went before me must have felt somewhat the same way. "From my own personal viewpoint, I consider my winning this award as indirectly a great tribute to the new coaching staff at the University of Iowa headed by Dr. Eddie Anderson [applause] and to my teammates sitting back in Iowa City [applause]. A finer man and a better coach never hit these United States, and a finer bunch of boys and a more courageous bunch of boys never graced the gridirons of the Midwest than that Iowa team of 1939 [applause]. I wish that they all might be with me tonight to receive this trophy. They certainly deserve it. "I want to take this grand opportunity to thank, collectively, sportswriters and sportscasters and all those who've seen fit, have seen their way clear, to cast a ballot in my favor for this trophy. I also want to take this opportunity to thank [chairman] Mr. Willard Prince and the Heisman committee and all those connected with the Downtown Athletic Club for this trophy and the fine time they're showing me. Not only for that, but for making this worthy trophy available to the football players of this country. "And, finally, if you'll permit me, I'd like to make a comment which, in my mind, is indicative, perhaps, of the greater significance of football and sports emphasis in general in this country--and that is: I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest [his voice quivers] and not on the battlefields of Europe [applause]. I can speak confidently and positively that the players of this country would much more, much rather struggle and fight to win a Heisman award than a Croix de Guerre [applause]." Almost two years to the day of this Heisman ceremony, Dec. 6, Pearl Harbor was bombed and we were in World War II. Three days before-the attack, Kinnick left Iowa's law school to enlist in the Navy. Two years later, in 1943, he was killed when the fighter plane he was piloting ran out of fuel and crashed at sea before he could get back to his carrier. Iowa's football stadium was named for him in 1972.
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By Mike Conklin Speech! Speech! The Heisman Trophy award, emanating from New York City's Downtown Athletic Ckub, will be televised Saturday. It's almost predictable. There will be tight shots of leading candidates, sitting in a row and looking uncomfortable in ties and jackets. Most likely, they'll be flanked by a parent or two with their schools' PR men not far away. When the winner is announced, he'll march forward and, with a few beads of perspiration on his forehead, deliver what has become the most predictable part of the program--painful-to-listen-to, forgettable speech. If candidates wanted to do research, they couldn't do better than to borrow from Nile Kinnick's acceptance speech in 1939 at the Heismann ceremony. It's generally considered the most eloquent address given by a winner. Kinnick was a 5- foot-8-inch, 170-pound halfback who led an undermanned Iowa team under a new coach to a 6-1-1 record. It had gone 1-6-1 the previous season. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa later in his senior year. Considering Germany had invaded Poland a few months before he won the trophy, his speech is noteworthy as well as applicable today, with the Persian Gulf crisis upon us. After walking to the podium, this is what he said: "Thank you very, very much. It seems to me that everyone is letting their superlatives run away with them this evening. But nonetheless, I want you to know that I'm mighty, mighty happy to accept this trophy. Every football player in these United States dreams of winning this trophy and this fine trip-to New York. Every player considers Kihnick that trophy the acme in recognition of this kind. And the fact that I'm actually receiving this trophy tonight almost overwhelms me. I know that all those boys who went before me must have felt somewhat the same way. "From my own personal viewpoint, I consider my winning this award as indirectly a great tribute to the new coaching staff at the University of Iowa headed by Dr. Eddie Anderson [applause] and to my teammates sitting back in Iowa City [applause]. A finer man and a better coach never hit these United States, and a finer bunch of boys and a more courageous bunch of boys never graced the gridirons of the Midwest than that Iowa team of 1939 [applause]. I wish that they all might be with me tonight to receive this trophy. They certainly deserve it. "I want to take this grand opportunity to thank, collectively, sportswriters and sportscasters and all those who've seen fit, have seen their way clear, to cast a ballot in my favor for this trophy. I also want to take this opportunity to thank [chairman] Mr. Willard Prince and the Heisman committee and all those connected with the Downtown Athletic Club for this trophy and the fine time they're showing me. Not only for that, but for making this worthy trophy available to the football players of this country. "And, finally, if you'll permit me, I'd like to make a comment which, in my mind, is indicative, perhaps, of the greater significance of football and sports emphasis in general in this country--and that is: I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest [his voice quivers] and not on the battlefields of Europe [applause]. I can speak confidently and positively that the players of this country would much more, much rather struggle and fight to win a Heisman award than a Croix de Guerre [applause]." Almost two years to the day of this Heisman ceremony, Dec. 6, Pearl Harbor was bombed and we were in World War II. Three days before-the attack, Kinnick left Iowa's law school to enlist in the Navy. Two years later, in 1943, he was killed when the fighter plane he was piloting ran out of fuel and crashed at sea before he could get back to his carrier. Iowa's football stadium was named for him in 1972.
Nile Kinnick Collection
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