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Nile Kinnick and Nile Kinnick Sr. letters to William C. Stuart, 1941-1983
1982-11-28: Page 15
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-8- Nile Kinnick was not alone in his concern about football and education. One of his teammates, Mike Einnick, the guard who blocked two Purdue punts for two safetys, and commented that he blocked thesecond one just to make the victory decisive, wrote as follows: "Football in any e ra, is essentially a team game and its demands are relatively simple but most important: athletic ability, courage, fortitude, stamina, desire and the willingness to sacrifice self for the good of the team. There are constant changes, of course--specialization of techniques, equipment improvement and facilities, more definitive coaching. But I believe that Nile Kinnick and all the members of the 1939 Hawkeye Squad would join me in saying that if we left any legacy to the future of athletics at the University of Iowa it would be simply to study hard and to play hard. The primary purpose of attending the University is to get an education, of course, and there should be no disproportion of efforts between the playing field and the classroom. Give the game and the books the best you have; no one expects more, and the win and loss record will take care of itself." Nile possesed a wisdom far beyond that oridnarily associated with such a young man. But to stop now would leave a distorted picture. He had a marvelous sense of humor and was extremely light hearted and playful when that attitude was appropriate. He could gently tease or kid without sarcasim or
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-8- Nile Kinnick was not alone in his concern about football and education. One of his teammates, Mike Einnick, the guard who blocked two Purdue punts for two safetys, and commented that he blocked thesecond one just to make the victory decisive, wrote as follows: "Football in any e ra, is essentially a team game and its demands are relatively simple but most important: athletic ability, courage, fortitude, stamina, desire and the willingness to sacrifice self for the good of the team. There are constant changes, of course--specialization of techniques, equipment improvement and facilities, more definitive coaching. But I believe that Nile Kinnick and all the members of the 1939 Hawkeye Squad would join me in saying that if we left any legacy to the future of athletics at the University of Iowa it would be simply to study hard and to play hard. The primary purpose of attending the University is to get an education, of course, and there should be no disproportion of efforts between the playing field and the classroom. Give the game and the books the best you have; no one expects more, and the win and loss record will take care of itself." Nile possesed a wisdom far beyond that oridnarily associated with such a young man. But to stop now would leave a distorted picture. He had a marvelous sense of humor and was extremely light hearted and playful when that attitude was appropriate. He could gently tease or kid without sarcasim or
Nile Kinnick Collection
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