cover image Heisman: 
The Man Behind the Trophy

Heisman: The Man Behind the Trophy

John M. Heisman and Mark Schlabach. S&S/Howard, $25 (288p) ISBN 978-1-4516-8291-5

College football’s Heisman Trophy is named after Coach John W. Heisman. Heisman played college football at the University of Pennsylvania, but he accepted an unpaid coaching position upon graduation rather than use his law degree. The itinerant coach enjoyed immediate success, but achieved his greatest fame at Georgia Tech. Along the way he established a reputation as a “well-rounded and gifted actor” and journalist. He was the athletic director of the Downtown Athletic Club of New York when the trophy was first awarded in 1935. His death the next year prompted the club to name the trophy in his honor. ESPN.com journalist Schlabach and John M. Heisman, great nephew of John M. Heisman, draw on numerous media accounts as the basis for Heisman’s story. The result is a nostalgic look at a bygone era and the evolution of football through the life of one of its early innovators. (Nov.)