IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 123 
Recognizing the historical and national significance of the many contributions 
of John William Heisman to the sport of football. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 12, 2009 
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. PITTS, Mr. 
ALTMIRE, Mr. SHULER, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, Mr. ROGERS of Ala-
bama, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. COLE, and Mr. GER-
LACH) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and Labor 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the historical and national significance of the 
many contributions of John William Heisman to the 
sport of football. 
Whereas, born in 1869, John W. Heisman was an early and 
influential developer of the game of football, one of Amer-
ica’s most beloved sports; 
Whereas Heisman learned the game of football playing for 
Titusville High School in the 1880s and began his long 
career as a player, coach, writer, and great innovator of 
the sport; 
Whereas Heisman played college football for Brown Univer-
sity and the University of Pennsylvania; 
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Whereas his coaching career lasted from 1892–1927 and took 
Heisman to many institutions including: Oberlin College, 
Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Washington and Jeffer-
son, Rice University, and his alma mater, the University 
of Pennsylvania; 
Whereas, after coaching, Heisman continued his involvement 
with the sport as a well-known author and publisher of 
sports periodicals; 
Whereas, as head coach of Georgia Tech’s football club, his 
team saw an incredible 33 back-to-back wins, while going 
37–4–2 in his final five years as coach; 
Whereas Heisman coached Georgia Tech to an incredible 
222–0 win over Tennessee’s Cumberland College, the 
highest scoring football game on record; 
Whereas Heisman is credited with inventing the forward 
pass, which is widely considered to be his greatest con-
tribution to the sport; 
Whereas he introduced games consisting of four quarters, in-
vented the center snap, and created plays that were pre-
cursors to the T and I formations; 
Whereas, as director of the New York Downtown Athletic 
Club (DAC), Heisman and DAC established an annual 
award for the best college player in the Eastern U.S., 
which subsequently became national in scope in 1935; 
Whereas the award was renamed the Heisman Memorial Tro-
phy after he passed away in 1936; and 
Whereas John Heisman was elected into the College Football 
Hall of Fame in 1954: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress— 
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HCON 123 IH 
(1) recognizes the significance, the importance, 
and many contributions John Heisman had on its 
development of one of America’s most beloved 
sports—football; 
(2) praises Heisman’s efforts in helping to es-
tablish the most valuable player award for college 
football, which eventually would be named for him; 
and 
(3) acknowledges Heisman’s innovative and in-
fluential coaching techniques and strategies, as well 
as his legendary leadership on and off of the football 
field. 
Æ 
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