Nile Kinnick Nile Clarke Kinnick , Jr . ( July 9 , 1918 – June 2 , 1943 ) was a student and a college football player at the University of Iowa . He won the 1939 Heisman Trophy and was a consensus All - America n . He died during a training flight while serving as a United States Navy aviator in World War II . Kinnick was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 , and the University of Iowa renamed its football stadium Kinnick Stadium in his honor in 1972 . Background . Nile Clarke Kinnick , Jr . , was the son of Nile Clark Kinnick , Sr . , and Francis Clarke . He had two younger brothers , Ben and George . His maternal grandfather , George W . Clarke , graduated from the University of Iowa in 1878 and served two two - year terms as the Governor of Iowa from 1912 to 1916 . Nile ' s parents were devoted to the teachings of Christian Science and helped Nile develop values of discipline , hard work , and strong morals . Nile was reportedly constantly thinking about self - improvement and working on turning personal weaknesses into strengths . Nile was also a devout Christian Scientist , and regularly attended the Christian Science branch church in Iowa City , while he was a student at the university . Kinnick began showing athletic aptitude at a young age as well . As a youth , he played on a Junior Legion baseball team with the future major leaguer Bob Feller . As a sophomore at Adel High School , Kinnick led the football team to an undefeated season , and then he scored 485 points for the basketball team , leading them to the district finals . After his junior year of high school , the Kinnick family moved when Nile Kinnick , Sr . , took a job in Omaha , Nebraska . Nile was a first - team all - state selection in both football and basketball as a senior , as he started for one year with his brother Ben at the Benson High School in Omaha . He led Benson to a third place finish in the state basketball and to the city baseball championship . College career . Undergraduate years . Kinnick had always been an excellent student as well as an athletic leader , and he could have graduated in 1935 , but his parents held him back a year to become thoroughly prepared for the university . He considered the University of Minnesota - how seriously is not clear - but he chose the University of Iowa . The struggles of the Iowa Hawkeyes football team might have attracted him . Verle Davis , Kinnick ' s football coach at Adel , recalled that " Kinnick was determined to go to some school that was down . . . He didn ' t want to go to Minnesota , because they were on top . . . He finally went to Iowa as he figured they were at their lowest ebb . " The account is persuasive , because it was typical of Kinnick . To start from nothing and test himself against his own weakness as well as outside resistance were challenges Kinnick always pursued if they were available . He was recruited to Iowa by Coach Ossie Solem in 1936 . Kinnick was named the co - captain of the freshman team . He also played baseball and basketball his freshman year . After the 1936 season , Solem left Iowa to go to Syracuse University , and the University of Iowa hired Irl Tubbs to replace him . As a sophomore , Kinnick was terrific , but the Hawkeyes just could not win . Iowa battled Washington , the eventual Pacific Coast Conference champions , to the wire in a 14 - 0 defeat and then scored an early victory over Bradley University . It was Iowa ' s only win of the year . But opponents raved about Kinnick . After scoring Iowa ' s only touchdown in a 13 - 6 loss to Wisconsin , Solem wrote sports editor Sec Taylor from Syracuse , " I was sure that Kinnick was destined to be the greatest back in all Iowa history , and I am more convinced than ever that he will be . " Iowa lost all five Big Ten Conference games in 1937 . The " heartbreaking " loss was a 7 - 6 defeat at the hands of Michigan , despite Kinnick ' s 74 - yard punt return for a touchdown . Sportswriter Bert McGrane wrote , " I can ' t recall a single break that favored Iowa . . . You ' d think Iowa would win the toss by accident once in a while . " Iowa had not won the coin toss in 13 games . Kinnick , the lone bright spot of the 1937 season , led the nation in punting and was named first team All - Big Ten and a third team All - American . Kinnick played basketball , too , and he was Iowa ' s second leading scorer and the 15th leading scorer in the Big Ten his sophomore year in 1937 - 38 . After a brief stint in baseball that summer , Nile dropped the third sport . In 1938 , he hurt his ankle in preseason football practice and was not at full strength for his entire junior year . Kinnick played through the pain , but it hampered his effectiveness . His Christian Science beliefs limited the amount of medical assistance that Kinnick allowed himself to receive from the team doctors , believing that his injury could be overcome by his reliance on prayer for healing . Kinnick was an honorable mention All - Big Ten selection his junior year in 1938 . ( It was later revealed that he had probably played the 1938 season with a broken ankle . Most contemporaries say that because of Christian Science religion he would not allow himself to be examined by a doctor . In fact , the Christian Science religion does not prohibit medical help , and leaves the choice whether to seek medical attention up to the individual . However , a teammate says that he did not go to a doctor because he had learned a different style of wrapping his ankle and did not want anyone else messing with it . He " went to a doctor when something was wrong with him . " ) He also declared that he would not participate in basketball in the upcoming year , citing personal concerns over his school work . After a 1 - 6 - 1 season , Irl Tubbs was fired at Iowa , and the doctor , Eddie Anderson , was now the head coach . Kinnick was also a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Iowa during his undergraduate years . 1939 season . Before the 1939 season , Kinnick wrote , " For three years , nay for fifteen years , I have been preparing for this last year of football . I anticipate becoming the roughest , toughest all - around back yet to hit this conference . " He also wrote , " I ' m looking forward to showing Anderson what a real football player looks like - so hold your hats . " Coach Anderson liked Kinnick immediately . He referred to all of his players by their last names , except Kinnick , who was always " Nile " . Anderson favored student - athletes , because he felt that scholars made better players over the long run . He believed the 1939 team could be a good one , but only if the starters played significant minutes . Before the first game , the " Des Moines Register " had a small note stating that " a set of iron men may be developed to play football for Iowa . " The 1939 Hawkeyes , nicknamed the " Ironmen " , would become one of the greatest teams in school history . Many of Anderson ' s players played complete games during that season for the Hawkeyes . In 1939 , Iowa finished the year ranked ninth in the AP Poll with a 6 - 1 - 1 record . Kinnick threw for 638 yards and 11 touchdowns on only 31 passes and ran for 374 yards . He was involved in 16 of the 19 touchdowns ( 11 passing , 5 rushing ) that Iowa scored and was involved in 107 of the 130 points that Iowa scored that year . He played 402 of a possible 420 minutes that season . All told , Kinnick set 14 school records , six of which still stand over 65 years later . At the end of the season , Nile Kinnick won virtually every major award in the country . He was a consensus First - Team All - American , and he appeared on every first team ballot to become the only unanimous selection in the AP voting . He won the Big Ten MVP award by the largest margin in history . He also won the Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp Memorial Trophy . Nile Kinnick even won the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year , beating out such notables as Joe DiMaggio , Byron Nelson , and Joe Louis . He was the first college football player to win that award . On November 28 , 1939 , Nile Kinnick won the Heisman Trophy , becoming the only Iowa Hawkeye to win college football ' s most prestigious award . Heisman Trophy speech . Kinnick ' s Heisman Trophy , made approximately two years before the United States entered World War II , is remembered as one of the most eloquent and moving ever given . Bill Cunningham of the " Boston Post " wrote , " This country ' s okay as long as it produces Nile Kinnicks . The football part is incidental . " AP reporter Whitney Martin wrote , " You realized the ovation ( after his Heisman speech ) wasn ' t alone for Nile Kinnick , the outstanding college football player of the year . It was also for Nile Kinnick , typifying everything admirable in American youth . " Another observer said that Kinnick ' s remarks " tackled Demosthenes and threw Cicero for a 15 - yard loss . " The University of Iowa recently began playing an excerpt from the speech on the Kinnick Stadium scoreboard before " The Star - Spangled Banner " at every Hawkeye home game . Inconclusive claims . Minnesota tryout . Nile Kinnick ' s college choice came down to Iowa and the University of Minnesota . Minnesota was one of the dominant college football programs in the nation , while Iowa was a struggling program . Some sources state that Kinnick traveled to Minneapolis for a tryout with the Gophers , but that the Gophers rejected him . Some even suggest that Minnesota ' s legendary coach , Bernie Bierman , stated himself that Kinnick was " too small and too slow " to play for Minnesota . Whether or not this tryout actually took place is unclear . Even as a high school student , Kinnick wrote many letters and kept meticulous journal entries , yet this alleged tryout with Minnesota is never referenced . Nor does Kinnick ever mention the tryout during any of his journal entries or letters when he discusses one of his many games with Iowa against Minnesota . Also , by early 1937 , Bierman called Kinnick " one of the finest young backs I have ever seen . " That would represent a significant change of opinion on Bierman ' s part in a very short period of time . One author wrote , " When it was time for college , there was no doubt that Nile would go to Iowa . " The universities of Iowa and Minnesota have been fierce rivals for a long time , and it is possible that the story of Kinnick ' s interest in Minnesota was embellished at some point , by fans of either school . We do know that Kinnick considered enrolling at Minnesota , but how seriously and whether he actually attended a football tryout is uncertain . Michigan confession . Another enduring story involves a game between Iowa and Michigan in the late 1930s for the Big Ten Conference title and / or a Rose Bowl berth . Iowa trailed by a few points and threatened to score the winning touchdown on the final play of the game . On the final play , Kinnick was stopped right at the goal line . The officials conferred to discuss if Kinnick had scored , and Kinnick approached the officials to inform them that he had been , in fact , stopped short of the goal , and Michigan went on to win the game . One version of the story is referenced here . There are several inconsistencies with this story . First of all , Kinnick ' s Iowa teams only met Michigan twice , in 1937 and 1939 , and at that time , the Big Ten did not send their champion to the Rose Bowl . The Big Ten title was not at stake during the 1937 game for either team , and Michigan did not win the Big Ten title in 1939 , even with the victory over Iowa . In retrospect , Iowa could have won the 1939 Big Ten title with a win over Michigan , but Iowa lost the game 27 - 7 , too large a margin for any last minute Kinnick heroics . Iowa did lose the 1937 game at Michigan by a 7 - 6 score , but no written account of the game includes this controversial score . 1939 Notre Dame game . Iowa defeated Notre Dame in 1939 , 7 - 6 , in a game that many consider to be Kinnick ' s signature performance . Iowa ' s only touchdown was scored when Nile Kinnick switched to right halfback for the first time all season from his usual left halfback spot , and the Notre Dame defense was caught unprepared by the switch . Bill Reichardt , a terrific Iowa fullback who would later be named the Big Ten MVP in 1951 , claimed that Al Couppee , Iowa ' s quarterback , was not in the game on that touchdown play . Reichardt describes the touchdown this way . " They originally called right halfback Buzz Dean ' s play in the huddle . But Dean said , ' I can ' t take it . I ' ve got a separated shoulder . ' Then they turned to Kinnick and said , ' Can you take it , Nile ? ' Kinnick responded , ' I think I ' ve got a couple of broken ribs on my right side , so let ' s run the play to the left side . ' " This story regarding Kinnick ' s statement about broken ribs and with Kinnick , not Couppee , coming up with the idea for the switch to right halfback is particularly enduring . It is unlikely that Reichardt ’ s story is true . His story is refuted by almost everyone on the 1939 Iowa team . Couppee states in his autobiography that he was indeed in the game for Kinnick ' s touchdown . Couppee called a rare huddle , in which Couppee called the play shifting Kinnick to the right halfback position . Teammates Erwin Prasse and George " Red " Frye substantiate Couppee ’ s version , but neither of them refute that Kinnick was injured on a previous play . Life after 1939 . Plans . Kinnick was elected student body president his senior year at Iowa . A member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Iowa , Kinnick also maintained a 3 . 4 GPA . As he neared graduation with a degree in economics , he was one of thirty students selected to the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity , and the university president informed him that he would graduate " with distinction " , Iowa ' s equivalent to graduating " cum laude " . He gave the for the University of Iowa ' s graduating class in 1940 . Kinnick was the leading vote - getter in the nation for the College All - Star Game , while his coach , Eddie Anderson , was voted in to coach the team against Iowa alum Joe Laws and the NFL champion Green Bay Packers . The Packers defeated the College All - Stars , 45 - 28 , in an entertaining game . Kinnick scored two touchdowns and kicked four extra points . It was noted that the All - Stars scored four touchdowns while Kinnick was in the game ; when he sat on the bench , they mustered just one first down . Kinnick rejected several lucrative offers to play professional football . He was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers , and the team owner offered to pay him a $ 10 , 000 annual salary or on a game - by - game basis for $ 1 , 000 a game . Instead of going into professional football , he entered the University of Iowa College of Law . After one year of law school , Kinnick ranked third in his class academically . He also had an interest in politics . Kinnick , himself the grandson of a Governor , spoke before the Young Republicans and introduced 1940 presidential candidate Wendell Willkie at a campaign rally . Kinnick said , " When the members of any nation have come to regard their country as nothing more than the plot of ground on which they reside , and their government as a mere organization for providing police or contracting treaties ; when they have ceased to entertain any warmer feelings for one another than those which interest or personal friendship or a mere general philanthropy may produce , the moral dissolution of that nation is at hand . " The " Marion Sentinel " proposed in an article to endorse a presidential run for Kinnick in 1956 , the first year in which he would be eligible . While Kinnick took a year of law school in 1940 , he also served as an assistant football coach for the Hawkeyes , aiding the freshman team and scouting upcoming opponents . He accompanied the team to South Bend to see Iowa upset the Irish for the second straight season . According to The Daily Iowan ’ s account , " Nile Kinnick , cool , calm , and collected while he ’ s on a football team , pranced up and down the dressing room almost jabbering in his excitement . " He was also an assistant football coach at Iowa in 1941 . Naval service . But Kinnick left law school after one year and enlisted in the Naval Air Reserve . After completing a speaking tour of Iowa communities and visiting his parents in Omaha , he reported for induction three days before the attack on Pearl Harbor . He wrote , " There is no reason in the world why we shouldn ' t fight for the preservation of a chance to live freely , no reason why we shouldn ' t suffer to uphold that which we want to endure . May God give me the courage to do my duty and not falter . " Later , he added , " Every man whom I ' ve admired in history has willingly and courageously served in his country ' s armed forces in times of danger . It is not only a duty but an honor to follow their example the best I know how . May God give me the courage and ability to so conduct myself in every situation that my country , my family , and my friends will be proud of me . " Nile was able to return to Iowa one last time in 1942 . He visited Adel and saw his father one final time . He then went to Iowa City and watched Iowa ' s football game against Washington University from the press box . When the Iowa crowd heard of Nile ' s presence , they began a loud " We want Kinnick ! " chant until Kinnick leaned out of the press box with an appreciative wave . Kinnick was training to be a fighter pilot . " The task which lies ahead is adventure as well as duty , " Nile wrote in his final letter to his parents before deploying with the USS " Lexington " in late May 1943 , " and I am anxious to get at it . I feel better in mind and body than I have for ten years and am quite certain I can meet the foe confident and unafraid . ' I have set the Lord always before me , because He is at my right hand . I shall not be moved . ' Truly , we have shared to the full life , love , and laughter . Comforted in the knowledge that your thought and prayer go with us every minute , and sure that your faith and courage will never falter , no matter the outcome , I bid you " au revoir " . " Death . On June 2 , 1943 , Kinnick was on a routine training flight from the aircraft carrier USS " Lexington " ( CV - 16 ) , which was off the coast of Venezuela in the Gulf of Paria . Kinnick had been flying for over an hour when his F4F Wildcat developed an oil leak so serious that he could neither reach land nor the " Lexington " , whose flight deck was in any case crowded with planes preparing for launch . Kinnick followed standard military procedure and executed an emergency landing in the water , but died in the process . Rescue boats arrived on the scene a mere eight minutes later , but they found only an oil slick . His body was never recovered . Nile Kinnick was the first Heisman Trophy winner to die ; he was a month and seven days away from his 25th birthday . Iowa sportscaster Tait Cummins said , " Kinnick proved one thing , that college athletics could be beautiful . Everything that can be said that is good about college athletics he was . He didn ' t " represent " it . . . he " was " it . " In a letter to Kinnick ' s parents , Kinnick ' s lieutenant commander , Paul Buie , wrote , " Having lost all oil the engine , without lubrication , failed , forcing Nile to land in the water . " Kinnick ' s squadron mate , Bill Reiter , also confirmed that the oil leak was so bad that Kinnick was forced to land four miles before he could reach the " Lexington " . This varies slightly from the often - repeated legend that Kinnick could have made it back to the ship but instead " chose " to land in the water to spare the ship ' s crew from danger . While Kinnick gave his life for his country , the decision to land his plane in the water was standard military procedure , and a landing on the " Lexington " , given his situation , was an impossibility , not a deliberately bypassed option . There is also some uncertainty about exactly how Kinnick died . Reiter was the only person who claimed to have seen Kinnick clear of the plane and motionless in the water . Reiter died three months later in the Battle of Wake Island , which would have been Kinnick ' s first military mission had he lived . Since Kinnick ' s body was never found , it is possible that Kinnick was still tethered to the plane . Dick Tosaw , whose brother played high school football with Kinnick , has repeatedly pursued the idea of finding and salvaging Kinnick ' s plane , and making a monument at Kinnick Stadium or at Adel - DeSoto - Minburn High School . But the possibility , however remote , that Kinnick ' s body is still with the plane led to overwhelming opposition to Tosaw ' s efforts . Nile Kinnick Sr . opposed the idea , saying that it would be like digging up his son ' s grave . Kinnick ' s teammates were also unanimously opposed to the idea . Such strong opposition from Kinnick ' s teammates , relatives , and fans scuttled Tosaw ' s plans . Legacy . Honors . The honors that have been heaped upon Nile Kinnick after his death are almost innumerable . When the United States occupied Japan , it renamed the site intended for the 1940 Summer Olympics " Nile Kinnick Stadium . " A high school in Yokosuka , Japan , for dependents of military personnel is named Nile C . Kinnick High School . The coin flipped at the start of every Big Ten football game bears his image , and each captain of a Big Ten team receives one such coin at the end of the year . Shortly after his death , a memorial fund was established at the University of Iowa in his honor . The Nile Kinnick Memorial Scholarship Fund is awarded annually to outstanding student - athletes at Iowa . His number # 24 has been retired , one of only two Iowa football numbers so recognized ( Cal Jones ' # 62 is the other ) . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in the Hall ' s inaugural year in 1951 , one of only two Hawkeye players so honored ( Duke Slater was the other ) . In 1989 , Iowa fans selected an all - time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football . Nile Kinnick was not only selected to the team as a halfback , he was voted the team ' s MVP , or the most valuable player in the first century of Iowa football . Kinnick was one of just five football players inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in the Hall ' s inaugural year in 1951 , joining Duke Slater , Aubrey Devine , Jay Berwanger , and Elmer Layden . In 1999 , " Sports Illustrated " selected Nile Kinnick as the third greatest sports figure in the history of the state of Iowa , behind only Dan Gable and Kinnick ' s youth baseball teammate , Bob Feller . College Football News ranked Kinnick as the ninth greatest college football player of all - time . An Iowa City theater produced a play based on Kinnick ' s life . Four books have been written about Nile Kinnick and the 1939 Hawkeyes . A high school football field located at Omaha Northwest High School in Omaha , Nebraska is named for him . To this day , at the beginning of every football game in the Big Ten Conference , the coin toss features a coin with Kinnick on the heads side of the coin , while the helmets of the opposing teams are on the tails side , each coin is minted at the beginning of the season , and handed to the Head referee by a Big Ten official prior to the beginning of the game , all coins are kept under lock and key at the Big Ten Headquarters . Renaming the stadium . After Nile Kinnick died in 1943 , there was considerable sentiment to rename Iowa Stadium in his honor . However , his father was not comfortable with the idea , stating that Nile was just one of 407 , 000 Americans who lost their lives in military service during World War II . Ben Kinnick , Nile ' s brother , also lost his life in World War II , and Nile Kinnick , Sr . did not think it would be appropriate to single his son out for such an honor . The school reluctantly honored Mr . Kinnick ' s wishes . In the early 1970s , Gus Schrader , the sports editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette , resurrected the idea . He used his popular column in the paper to rally support for the cause . The movement began to gain support , most importantly when Mr . Kinnick softened his position and indicated he would not stand in the way of putting his son ’ s name on the stadium . Nile Kinnick ' s father , Nile Sr . , was very close to his son . They had frequent written correspondence and Nile Sr . was a major influence in young Kinnick ' s life . Yet Mr . Kinnick was very humble , and he was very careful to never do anything that might be seen as taking attention away from his son . He was always quick to mention Nile ' s teammates on that 1939 Ironmen team whenever anyone praised his son ' s football achievements . Mr . Kinnick , who outlived two of his sons by nearly fifty years , lived long enough to see his son given Iowa football ' s highest honor . In the spring of 1972 , the Iowa Athletic Board voted to rename the stadium in honor of the school ’ s only Heisman Trophy winner . The Hawkeyes ’ first home game that year was with Oregon State , and a pre - game ceremony on September 23 made it official : Iowa Stadium became known as Kinnick Stadium . Nile ’ s father took part in the ceremony and seemed genuinely pleased . Kinnick Stadium is the only college football stadium named for a Heisman Trophy winner . In 2006 , Iowa finished renovations on Kinnick Stadium . As part of those renovations , the school dedicated a 14 foot bronze statue of Kinnick in front of the stadium on September 1 , the day before the opening game . Included in the ceremonies was a speech by head coach Kirk Ferentz , as well as a fly - over of a replication of the plane Kinnick flew in World War II . Iowa also placed a 9 foot by 16 foot bronze relief on the wall of the stadium , depicting Kinnick ' s 1939 game - winning touchdown run against Notre Dame . Final letter . After news of Kinnick ' s death was made public on July 3 , 1943 , a female friend of Nile ' s received a letter that the postman had previously overlooked . It was the last letter ever received from Nile Kinnick . Nile was responding to a letter she had sent him , detailing a trip she took to Iowa City . In his final letter , Kinnick wrote , " I am so glad you could speak enthusiastically of your visit to Iowa City . That little town means so much to me . . . It is almost like home . I love the people , the campus , the trees , everything about it . And it is beautiful in the spring . . . And I hope you strolled off across the golf course just at twilight and felt the peace and quiet of an Iowa evening , just as I used to do . "