William Shakespeare ( American football ) William Valentine Shakespeare ( September 27 , 1912 – January 17 , 1974 ) was an American football player . He played at the halfback position , and also handled punting , for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football teams from 1933 to 1935 . He gained his greatest acclaim for throwing the winning touchdown pass as time ran off the clock in Notre Dame ' s 1935 victory over Ohio State , a game that was voted the best game in the first 100 years of college football . Shakespeare was selected as a consensus first - team All - American in 1935 and was posthumously inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983 . Sharing the same name as " The Bard of Avon " , Shakespeare earned nicknames including " The Bard of Staten Island " , " The Bard of South Bend " , and " The Merchant of Menace . " Biography . Early years . Shakespeare was born on Staten Island , New York . His father , Valentine Shakespeare , was a New York City firefighter and the captain of Fire Company 163 . The family claimed to be direct descendants of the famed writer William Shakespeare . The younger Shakespeare became a star football player at Staten Island ' s Port Richmond High School . He showed particular talent as a punter and later told reporters that he had trained his pet fox terrier to retrieve his punts as he practiced his technique . Notre Dame . Bard of Staten Island . He enrolled at the University of Notre Dame in 1932 , the year after the death of the school ' s legendary football coach Knute Rockne . He played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football teams in 1933 , 1934 , and 1935 , and was selected as a consensus All - American in 1935 . Because of his shared name with William Shakespeare , " The Bard of Avon " , he acquired nicknames " The Bard of Staten Island " and " The Merchant of Menace . " Newspapers reported that , though he claimed to be a direct descendant of the Bard , Shakespeare had flunked his sophomore English class . In 1934 , newspapers published a photograph of Shakespeare staring at a football in the manner of Hamlet examining Yorick ' s skull under the caption " To Be Or Not To Be - - Football Player or English Wizard Is Perplexing Question Facing William Shakespeare , of Notre Dame . " 1933 and 1934 seasons . As a sophomore in 1933 , Shakespeare was a substitute at the halfback position . He also showed promise as a punter with an average of 53 . 2 yards on five punts . As a junior in 1934 , Shakespeare became the starting left halfback in the Notre Dame ' s first year under new coach Elmer Layden . In an October 1934 win over Carnegie Tech , Shakespeare ran 56 yards for a touchdown on a sweep play around the right end . The Associated Press noted : " Superb blocking opened the route for Shakespeare , who put a little reverse English on his dash and then outfooted the field to score . " On November 24 , 1934 , he helped lead the Irish to a 12 – 6 win over Army with a 67 - yard touchdown pass to Dominic Vairo in front of a crowd of 81 , 000 at Yankee Stadium . The Associated Press wrote that " the Irish scored a touchdown on a sensational pass , Shakespeare to Captain Vairo , who took the ball on Army ' s 15 as he was surrounded by three cadets and broke away to spring across the goal line . " And in the final week of the season , he threw a 51 - yard touchdown pass to Francis " Mike " Layden in a 14 – 0 win over the University of Southern California . He led the 1934 Notre Dame team in several offensive categories , including passing ( 230 yards and two touchdowns ) , kickoff returns ( 60 yards on four returns ) , and punting ( 41 punts for 1 , 638 yards and a 40 . 0 yard average ) . 1935 season . Early games . In the opening game of the 1935 season , Shakespeare threw a pass from the 50 - yard to Wayne Millner , who caught the ball on the five - yard line and ran into the endzone for a touchdown as Notre Dame defeated Kansas 28 – 7 . The following week , Shakespeare ran for a touchdown against Carnegie Tech at Pitt Stadium - - the first touchdown scored by Notre Dame in Pittsburgh since 1931 . Against Wisconsin on October 12 , 1935 , he caught a 20 - yard touchdown pass from Vic Wojcihovski to help lead Notre Dame to a 13 - 0 win at Camp Randall Stadium . In the fourth week of the 1935 season , Notre Dame beat Pitt , 9 – 6 , as Shakespeare scored Notre Dame ' s only touchdown . Shakespeare also booted an 86 - yard punt ( 70 yards in the air ) in the Pitt game , still the longest punt in Notre Dame football history . He also kicked a 75 - yard punt against Navy in 1935 that ranks as the fifth - longest in school history . " Game of the Century " . On November 2 , 1935 , Notre Dame faced the undefeated 1935 Ohio State Buckeyes team in front of a crowd of 81 , 000 at Ohio Stadium . Ohio State was heavily favored in the game and led at half - time by a score of 13 – 0 . The score remained the same at the start of the fourth quarter , but the Irish rallied in the fourth quarter for two touchdowns to narrow Ohio State ' s lead to 13 – 12 . With less than a minute left in the game , Notre Dame ' s quarterback Andy Pilney ran for a 30 - yard gain to the Ohio State 19 - yard line . Pilney was injured on the play and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher . Shakespeare replaced Pilney and threw a pass into the arms of an Ohio State player who intercepted the ball but dropped it before securing possession . With the clock running out , the ball was snapped to fullback Jim McKenna , who handed it to Shakespeare on what appeared to be a reverse . Shakespeare threw a pass into the endzone , which was caught by Wayne Millner on his knees for an 18 – 13 win . The 1935 Notre Dame - Ohio State match was regarded as one of the greatest comebacks in history of the sport . Red Barber , who broadcast the game on radio , later called it " the greatest college football game I ever called . " In " The New York Times " , Allison Danzig opened his report on the game by writing , " One of the greatest last - ditch rallies in football history toppled the dreaded Scarlet Scourge of Ohio State from its lofty pinnacle today as 81 , 000 dumbfounded spectators saw Notre Dame score three touchdowns in less than fifteen minutes to gain an almost miraculous 18 – 13 victory in jammed Buckeye Stadium . " Radio announcer Tom Manning added , " I always said Shakespeare had a pair of rosary beads and a bottle of holy water in his back pocket . " The media picked up stories of the Catholic faithful praying for Notre Dame as they listened to the game on the radio . One nun told a reporter of overhearing a colleague in her convent " gamefully bargaining " and eventually " threatening " the Poor Souls and saints for another Notre Dame touchdown . The " Chicago Tribune " later noted the irony that it was a truly ecumenical group that combined for the famed " Hail Mary " pass : " Mazziotti , a Catholic , handed to Shakespeare , a Protestant on a fake reverse . Shakespeare passed to End Wayne Millner , a Jewish boy . " In 1969 , as part of the centennial of the first college football game , the Associated Press conducted a poll to select the " game of the century " , and the 1935 Notre Dame - Ohio State game was chosen as the best game in the first 100 years of college football . Later games . The week after the Ohio State game , Notre Dame faced Northwestern featuring All - American end Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . Before the game , the Associated Press carried a story profiling the two players : " Shakespeare and Longfellow will meet tomorrow — - not to trade verses , but to play all the football they know . " Longfellow later recalled , " Shakespeare and I played against each other for three years . Each year , because of our names , we got a terrific buildup . It was a natural , I suppose . All through my college days I never heard the end of it . The writers went wilder each year . " Longfellow got the better of Shakespeare in 1935 , as he caught a touchdown pass to help Northwestern win the game , 14 - 7 . Shakespeare attempted to lead the Irish to another come - from - behind victory , as he ran 48 yard to the Northwestern ten - yard line late in the game , but the Northwestern defense held . On the last play of the game , Shakespeare threw a " long , desperate pass " , but it was intercepted as time ran out . On November 16 , 1935 , Shakespeare led a Notre Dame comeback against Army , but the comeback fell short as the game ended in a 6 – 6 tie . The game was played in Yankee Stadium in front of a crowd of 80 , 000 , and Army led 6 – 0 late in the game . With a minute to go , Shakespeare threw a 44 - yard pass to Millner at the Army goal line . The ball fell from Millner ' s arms , but the referee called pass interference and Notre Dame scored on the next play from the two - yard line . Damon Runyan wrote of the finish : " It is the opening gun , so to speak , of the duel with William Valentine Shakespeare , who waits until the very last minute to put on a typical Shakespeare finish to a Notre Dame football tale . " Shakespeare concluded his football career with a come - from - behind victory over the USC Trojans On November 23 , 1935 . USC led 6 – 0 at halftime , but Notre Dame scored 20 points in the second half . The Associated Press credited Shakespeare for leading the comeback : " Heading the brilliant attack was the ' bard of Staten Island , ' William Shakespeare who closed his collegiate career with one of his greatest games . " Shakespeare started the rally by throwing a 38 - yard touchdown pass to Wally Fromhart . Post - season honors . Shakespeare finished the 1935 college football season as Notre Dame ' s leader in most offensive categories , including passing ( 19 completions on 66 attempts for 267 yards ) , rushing ( 374 yards and four touchdowns on 104 carries ) , punting ( 1 , 801 yards on 45 punts ) , kickoff returns ( 123 yards on five returns ) , and scoring ( 24 points ) . He was selected as a consensus first - team All - American and finished third in the voting , behind Jay Berwanger and Monk Moscrip , for the first Heisman Trophy award . NFL Draft . Shakespeare was drafted in the first round ( 3rd overall selection ) of the 1936 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers . The 1936 draft was the first official NFL draft , and Shakespeare holds the distinction of being the third player ever selected in an NFL draft , the first Notre Dame player to be drafted in the first round , and the first first - round pick for the Steelers . Despite being drafted in the first round , professional football was not a high - paying proposition in the mid - 1930s , and Shakespeare opted for a career in business rather than professional football . Before turning to a career in business , Shakespeare did take time to appear with fellow All - Americans Jay Berwanger , Bobby Wilson , Monk Moscrip and Gomer Jones in the RKO Pictures feature film , " The Big Game " . World War II . In July 1943 , Shakespeare entered the U . S . Army and went overseas with the Ground Forces Reinforcement Command of the 106th Division . He was commissioned as a captain and commanded a machine - gun platoon of the 424th Infantry Regiment , which played a prominent role in the Ardennes breakthrough , and served in Northern France and the Rhineland Campaign . Shakespeare was awarded four battle star s , the Combat Infantryman Badge , and the Bronze Star for gallantry during the Battle of the Bulge . Later years . Shakespeare joined the Cincinnati Rubber Company upon graduating from Notre Dame in 1936 . With exception of the time he spent in military service during World War II , Shakespeare spent his entire career with the company . By 1959 , he had become a vice president of the company , and he became the company ' s president in 1960 . He lived in Kenwood , Ohio and remained president of Cincinnati Rubber until his death in 1974 . He died in January 1974 at age 61 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati , Ohio . He was survived by his wife and two sons . In 1983 , he was posthumously named to the College Football Hall of Fame .