Billy Vessels Billy Vessels ( March 22 , 1931 – November 17 , 2001 ) was a gridiron football player . He played college football at the University of Oklahoma and won the Heisman Trophy in 1952 . Vessels went on to play professional football with the National Football League ' s Baltimore Colts and the Western Interprovincial Football Union ' s Edmonton Eskimos . College football career . Vessels led the Oklahoma Sooners to the national championship in 1950 , scoring 15 touchdowns . In 1952 he won the Heisman Trophy . Playing under the legendary Bud Wilkinson , he became the first of five Sooners , followed by Steve Owens ( 1969 ) , Billy Sims ( 1978 ) , Jason White ( 2003 ) and Sam Bradford ( 2008 ) , to win the award . During the 1952 season he rushed for 1072 yards including seven 100 yard performances , and 17 touchdowns . These achievements led to his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974 . He was also a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity at the University of Oklahoma . Professional football career . Vessels was the first pick of the Baltimore Colts in the first round of the 1953 NFL Draft , but did not join the Colts following the draft , electing instead to play with the Edmonton Eskimos of the then Western Interprovincial Football Union . During his rookie season in 1953 , Vessels led the WIFU , the forerunner of the CFL Western Conference ( later changed to Division ) in rushing with 926 yards on 129 carries and with eight rushing touchdowns . He caught 20 passes for 310 yards and with one touchdown . Vessels also passed 393 yards on 30 attempts with 18 completions and 4 touchdown passes to having thrown only one interception and while on defence he snagged four interceptions . Vessels became the first player to win the Schenley Award as the Canadian Rugby - Football Union ' s ( CRU ) Most Outstanding Player ( the CFL did not come into existence until 1958 ) . Vessels played only the one season in Canada . In 1956 he joined the NFL ' s Baltimore Colts , the team that had drafted him three years prior . That season , his only for the Colts , he had 11 receptions for 177 yards and a touchdown plus returned 16 kickoffs for 379 yards . Unfortunately , Vessels ' professional career in the NFL was cut short by a leg injury . Later life . After his football career , Vessels was employed for many years by The Mackle Company , one of Florida ' s leading developers . In the 1970s , he became involved in horse breeding and served on the Florida Pari - Mutuel Commission from 1976 to 1983 , becoming its executive director . He was elected president of the National Association of State Racing Commissions in 1984 and served as director of the Florida division of Pari - Mutuel Wagering from 1987 to 1989 . Honors . In September 2003 , Cleveland , Oklahoma renamed its high school football stadium " Billy Vessels Memorial Stadium " in honor of Vessels . In 2007 , the University of Oklahoma , through the state ' s Centennial Celebration , awarded the Vessels Heisman statue to Cleveland , Oklahoma , where it sits across from Cleveland High School in front of the school ' s gymnasium and event center . OU replaced its statue , and those of its other Heisman winners , the next spring .