SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to the official Heisman Trophy Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

And the winner is, here's your host, Chris Houston. We are now on episode 12 of the official Heisman Trophy podcast. In three weeks from this past Monday, Heisman ballots will be distributed to all 929 Heisman electors. That's 870 medium members, plus 58 Heisman Trophy winners, plus one fan vote. And I gotta tell you, based on the way things are going so far this season, I think this has a chance to be one of the closest Heisman votes in recent history. Of course, the closest Heisman vote came in 2009 when Mark Ingram of Alabama beat Toby Gerhardt of Stanford by just a mere 28 points. The deadline for submitting the electronic ballots is Monday, December 4th, which is two days after the conference title games. So we're getting really close to that point where every play and every outcome is going to be magnified and analyzed and maybe even overanalyzed. So it's gonna really be a high-pressure situation for a lot of these players. And the crazy thing is that there's just so many different ways that it could play out. So we're taking a little bit of a pause from our normal routine here at the official Heisman Trophy podcast. We do, after all, have Veterans Day coming up, and I don't know if you've noticed, but college basketball season has gotten underway. So we normally talk to one of the best players in the country to kick off the show. Instead, this week we are going to have on, arguably, the greatest living college basketball coach, maybe the greatest coach of any sport at any level. Perhaps you heard of Mike Sheshewski, formerly of the Duke Blue Devils. You might know him as Coach K, and you might be wondering, what is his connection with the Heisman Trophy? Well, Coach K does have an association with the Heisman Trophy because he is the 2022 Heisman Humanitarian Award winner. The Heisman Humanitarian Award was created by the Heisman Trust to honor sports figures who are heavily involved in charitable efforts, especially ones that align with the Heisman's mission statement of helping underserved communities around the country. And these honorees aren't just people who come from the world of football, they are from the entire world of sports. There are hockey players and baseball players and ice skaters and golfers. It's a very diverse crowd, but the one thing they all have in common is that they all give back to their community. They all leverage their names and influence to do as much good as possible. So anyway, Coach Kay will be with us to tell us about his work in Durham, North Carolina with the Emily Kay Foundation. And we're going to close things out by honoring our Heisman winners who are also veterans of the Armed Forces and tell their stories as America prepares for Veterans Day 2023. But before we get to Coach K, let's round up what's going on in the Heisman world.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

It's the Heisman Roundup Week 10.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

The first Saturday in November was chocked full of great performances, and it's getting harder and harder to narrow down who we're highlighting every week. But we're gonna start again on the West Coast where they're letting it fly, defense beat down. And boy oh boy, did the Ducks take flight on Saturday in Eugene. Oregon quarterback Bo Knicks accounted for six touchdowns as the Ducks walloped Powell 63-19. He logged a pair of one-yard touchdown runs, his fourth and fifth of the year, to give Oregon an early 21-13 lead. But Knicks, who leads the country in completion percentage, did his most damage through the air, finishing with 386 yards passing in four-score before getting full play. This 48-yard touchdown pass kicked off the game scoring and amazingly came on a second and 37. The matchup did not disappoint, as the two quarterbacks accounted for seven combined touchdowns and the Husky's 52-42 win. Williams completed 27 of 35 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran in his tenth scorer of the year. In the back-and-forth contest, this 25-yard strike to Brendan Rice, Gary Stone, nodded the game at 35 early in the third quarter. On a night when U Dub's running game dominated the Trojans, Fenix Jr. still threw for 256 yards and two scores while also running one in it. His first TD throw was spectacular, a 22-yard dart to Devin Colt thrown on the run while towing the sideline. Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon maintained his height in the momentum with 137 yards rushing and a pair of scores on the ground that lifted the No. 22 Cowboys to a 2724 win over No. 9 Oklahoma. In the final scheduled bedroom game before OU moves to SCP speed, OST was able to close out the rivalry with the win, thanks in large part to Gordon, who torpedoed in from the one-yard line late in the fourth to put the Cowboys up for good. He left the game early in the fourth quarter after it hit to the head, but not before a slew of high-light plays, including this 40-yard run that led to LSD tying the game right before half. He's gonna get the first down and he's gonna go.com website, I highly encourage you to give it a look and explore some of our past winners. Their resumes at such young ages will blow your mind. And if you have a son or daughter excelling in sports and other facets of high school nearing their senior year, we encourage you to check out the site and apply for the 2024 award. Honors are given at the school and state level in addition to the national awards. Hey college football fans, tickets to the 2023 Heisman Trophy Dinner Gala are now on sale. The event takes place in New York City on Sunday, December 10th, the day after the Heisman Trophy ceremony. The guest of honor for the gala is the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, as well as the 50th anniversary winner John Capoletti, the 25th anniversary winner Ricky Williams, and the 10th anniversary winner Jameis Winston. Plus, we'll also be honoring the 2023 Heisman Humanitarian Award winner. Just go to Heisman.com to purchase tickets and witness Heisman history. Our first guest today is one of those amazingly accomplished individuals where you can say, they need no introduction. But we're going to give him one anyway. Coaching great Mike Sheshewski was our 2022 Heisman Humanitarian. Everyone's familiar with his coaching resume. During his 42-year career as the head coach at Duke, he led the Blue Devils to five national championships and an NCAA record, 13 Final Four appearances. A 12-time national coach of the year, he also led the US men's national team to gold medals at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics, as well as winning golds in three other international events. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball, College Basketball, United States Olympic, and FIBA Halls of Fame. And of course, in keeping with our Veterans Day theme on this episode, Coach Kay went to West Point and served five years in the Army, leaving with the rank of captain. He became a Heisman humanitarian because his commitment to service and community needs is also exceptional. The Emily Kay Center that he established in 2006 and which is named after his mother, annually serves 2,000 students from K through 12 in the Durham, North Carolina area and provides foundational support in all aspects of their young academic careers. It started modestly with 38 students and has grown into a major community hub that works with approximately 50 Durham organizations that use the center's facilities for their own community-based programs. In addition to the Emily K Center, Coach Kay supports a variety of philanthropic organizations, including the Duke Children's Hospital, the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research, the Children's American Network, and the Hoop Dreams Advisory Council, among others. And with that, here's our conversation with Coach K. Alright, Coach Mike Triseski, we really appreciate you coming on the official Heisman Trophy Podcast.

SPEAKER_06 10:25

Well, it's an honor. Uh when you hear the word Heisman, you know it's at the elite level. And uh uh last December I was honored to be a part of the uh get a the humanitarian award from the from the uh Heisman Trophy uh Foundation and and uh was so impressed with how the everything was handled there. It was first class all the way.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Well, we were very excited uh to have you a part of it. And I wanted to talk to you a little bit about why you were the Heisman Humanitarian, and that is the Emily Kay Center, which was founded in 2006. I understand you decided to name it after your mother, in part uh to honor the strong work ethic that she instilled in you as a young boy, is that right?

SPEAKER_06 11:12

Yes, and yeah, I was approached by uh it's not affiliated with the Catholic Church, but uh the land we're on is owned by the Immaculate Conception Parish. And uh one of the the the pastor there, Father McBriar, asked me after mass one Sunday over 20 years ago, uh said uh we need a community center here uh for the community. It was a community that needed to be built up. And uh so we were gonna call it the Birch Avenue Center, and then that had no traction. So he came back and he said, Yeah, I and you talk a lot about your mom. And I said, Yeah, and so why don't we why don't we why don't we do that? And I said, No, it's a great idea, and I was hooked for life. And uh we raised had to raise seven million dollars to build it, and then uh we're now in our we just completed our 17th year. We service over 2,000 kids a year, and uh we have a staff of 25 and uh just had uh uh a building edition put on. Uh we're trying to endow it, and it's done an amazing job for uh for the uh kids in our community that would not have uh the opportunities that others have.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Wonderful. So as far as you know the original vision for why you decided to focus on what the Emily AK Center focuses on, how how did that all take shape?

SPEAKER_06 12:47

Well, you know, my uh my mom, I grew up in the inner city of Chicago in a Polish neighborhood, and my mom's parents came from Poland, and so did my dad's. And my mom only went to eighth grade, and uh she's a cleaning lady in Chicago Athletic Club in Chicago, and but she believed in education and uh uh and our whole family did, and and that was the key to improve and uh have a better life. And and so in essence that's what that that thought that my mom had and her commitment is what we've taken as the foundation for uh the center. And we service most like low-income kids. And they're really in communities around the country, they're they're a resource that's untapped. There's so much talent, uh, but they only one in five low-income kids get a chance to go to college in our community, and we've changed that. You know, that that was our goal is to change that.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Was that something just you know, in your travels, uh recruiting and being around at camps, is that something that you really saw up close uh as a basketball coach?

SPEAKER_06 14:08

You know, I didn't see it in in from my uh career, uh, because usually you know the those kids are doing okay. Uh but I living here in Durham, North Carolina, and uh being at Duke for four decades, this is our home. And I could see it at the the church, uh the American Conception Church that I went to, and I could see that neighborhood, and and then when it was brought to my attention, you say, Yeah, we you know we can we can do that, we can help. And uh and the the staff I have is amazing, and they're they're educators, we have so many volunteers from the college community, but also from uh the university like uh faculty, wives or husbands will come and uh you know volunteer. So it it's been a great community outreach. Uh and uh it's really helped. The whole neighborhood changed, really, as a result of the center. Uh, you know, and in 17 years it it looks still looks brand new. We've never had graffiti or a broken window or the community loves it and uh because it loves the community. It's part of the community fabric now.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

That's fantastic. Uh your first program was called The Pioneer Scholars. It serves students in grades one through eight who have a dream of attending college. Why do you think it's so important to intervene at this stage?

SPEAKER_06 15:49

Well, the earlier you can influence a youngster, the better. And uh we're still I wish we couldn't get more. Uh there's only so many we can we can take. And uh uh because then they uh well as you get older you you gravitate to other things. And uh if you can get that when they come into our center, they they uh they see that someone cares for them, but also they they see that someone believes in them. Yeah. And and then they take off like uh the Pioneers Program. We have four programs, the Pioneers uh from first to eighth grade, then scholars to campus, those are high school uh youngsters. And the the this doesn't take the place of school, these youngsters are in school, but they come for programs after school or on a weekend. And then we have uh scholars on campus, where when they're in they all go to college, and when they're in college, we follow them. We give them support to see them graduate from college. And then about seven years ago, we started uh what's uh our biggest program and Game Plan College, where we work with all the guidance counselors in Durham County, and uh we provide assistance for every high school youngster who wants it, freshman through senior, and uh applying for schools and uh getting aid. And a lot of that is people do not do that because of educational and language barriers. And we have workshops, we go to schools uh and work with the guidance counselors. And last year uh we were able to uh communicate with over 1,800 students in in uh Durham County, and uh that's been a great program uh for us. And uh again, reaching out, we care. We we care even if you're not uh you know, at the Emily Shazewski Center. The Emily Sheshewski Center cares for you if you're a high school uh youngster in in Durham County and uh we're there for you.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

That's fantastic. You know, and it's such a it's such a hard process getting ready for college, and and it's kind of confusing and daunting. Do you have any favorite success stories just uh you know from the various programs that uh you've run?

SPEAKER_06 18:29

Yeah, we have uh an amazing board, it's so diverse and so talented, and and uh a year ago, one of Jannelle who started in second grade uh at the center and is getting her PhD uh became a board member. Wow. Uh uh and so that that's like full cycle and uh also uh to have uh alums. We have an alumni now. Fantastic. And uh they come back to the community, and that was part of the reason we did it, is so that you reinvest in in the community. And so a number of these youngsters are are men and women who have graduated from college and are on to their careers, and they're they're helping our community be better. And it uh it's a cool thing every once in a while. I'd go to a drugstore or a grocery store, and uh somebody would come up to me and say, Um, thank you so much. And I said, For what? So, well my my daughter went to the Emily Shazewski Center and she's now at this school, or my son was at the Emily Shazewski Center and turned his life around. And uh so yeah, I mean, how good is that, you know?

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Uh it really is. Yeah. Well, you uh you know better than anybody the importance of of picking a good staff, and you mentioned about how how great and dedicated your staff is. What kind of people do you look for to implement your vision?

SPEAKER_06 20:04

Yeah, well, a lot of people who have uh educational backgrounds, and uh our our our our director, Adam Eigenrock, is uh done a fantastic job, and uh but we try we have programs directors, uh you know, we have someone who's in charge of our uh scholars on on campus, you know, that will travel and communicate with these these youngsters. So uh and people trying to make a difference. And uh and with the volunteers, uh some of the young young people who volunteer uh they're in college and they change their course of study as a result of volunteering because they understand the influence they've had on a youngster or that youngster has had on them. Um yesterday we had a board meeting, uh big board meeting, and we we gave out awards to their adults who uh volunteer uh from the university, some from other universities too. One of the awards was uh given to Xina uh Allman and Zina's husband heads our orthopedics here at Duke. He's a big time guy. And when she came to the community, she visited uh once at the MLA K and says, I want to be that's something I want to be. And for 10 years she's volunteered, and uh some of the students that she serviced uh gave her uh notes and video anyway. Uh uh that's a that's a plus from all of us, you know, that uh Where it it's not just the kids getting benefit from it. It's it's the young adults and the older adults uh that are getting uh from helping one another. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

It's like giving back is contagious. Uh the center received Durham Magazine's Social Impact Award this past summer, which is really exciting. What's uh what's your five to ten year outlook for the center? What you you know you've been around for 17 years, you've gone from 200 students to over 2,000. What what do you what do you see in the future?

SPEAKER_06 22:31

Yeah, well, a lot of people from outside of our community have come to look at it to see if that can it can be replicated. We're not interested in franchising or doing anything like that. But with our especially with our game plan college, it's something uh program, it's something that can be used in other communities. We want to maintain what we're doing. And but uh we have partnered with a lot of other nonprofits in Durham to help them. Because if we can look you're not gonna be able to do everything, but if you find out that another nonprofit is doing something that really corresponds or goes with what you're doing, is there something we can do to help help them? So our plan is to be here forever. And uh, we just started uh an endowment campaign uh to make sure that we have uh we have a good amount of money in endowment, but not enough uh to make sure it's gonna be there forever. So that's my next goal is uh is to raise the money for that.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Well, in that vein, how can others uh help support the center?

SPEAKER_06 23:46

Well, one is you know look at it, first of all, to see how maybe there's something going on in your community like it, you know, so help your own community, you know. Uh that but uh if you see where we're always you know our our our arms are open to welcome anybody who wants to help with the center and contributions, uh uh you know uh obviously we would welcome that. But we you know we fundraise all year long. And uh I just had a dinner that we do in New York, a big dinner that raised uh a good amount, four hundred thousand dollars for the center. And uh so I try to use my platform uh to do that, but that uh there's gonna be a time where uh because this place is gonna be here longer than I'm gonna be here, uh, that I want it to continue. So that's where the endowment uh stuff comes comes about.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Right. You mentioned earlier about the Heisman and the Great Association. Right. The Heisman Humanitarian Award has honored a wide variety of sports philanthropists. We talked to Pat Lafontaine uh earlier in the season, and he's done some great stuff with uh children's hospitals. What did you think about you know just the concept of being associated with the Heisman and what did that association mean for the center?

SPEAKER_06 25:12

No, it's uh big time association. Uh you know, uh look, I've been in sport my whole life. I knew about the Heisman Trophy. I mean, it's the most prestigious award uh that you can receive, and it's so well done at the high it's uh it's like royalty and sport. And I did not know there was a humanitarian award. And when I was notified about it, I said, wow, that what an honor, you know, what what an honor. And because when you hear Heisman, you think of first class performance, everything. Yeah, everything. And uh and so for us to be associated with it is uh it's an honor.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Yeah, it's really cool to have the the cross-pollination between sports as well uh going on. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 26:07

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Okay, so you're now entering your second season in retirement and you're involved in a whole host of other charitable efforts as well, uh, beyond the Emily Case Center and and your other efforts in charity. What keeps you occupied the most these days?

SPEAKER_06 26:20

Well, I have a lifetime contract with Duke, so I'm an ambassador for the school. Uh I still have my same office uh staff, uh office staff, and we get involved with many, many things here at Duke University. Uh I'm a professor at our Fuqua School of Business and the lecture of on leadership. Uh I have my own Sirius XM show that we're in our 19th season. Uh and I speak quite a bit for the Washington Speakers Bureau all over the country. And uh I'm I'm a lifelong learner, especially in uh uh about leadership and teamwork. And uh in addition, it does Durham is our home, Durham, North Carolina, and our 10 grandchildren all live within 10 minutes of us. So we're we're pretty busy. Yeah, I can imagine. Pretty busy, yeah, but doing good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Right. Do you uh I'm sure you get asked this all the time, but do you miss college basketball?

SPEAKER_06 27:19

You know, I don't miss the the coaching. Uh uh I spent 47 years coaching and uh 11 of those years I was coaching the US team also, and uh I've been the luckiest guy in the world. I uh I have uh uh and you know I I knew I knew it was time to stop coaching because you know you know in order to coach you have to really prepare. And I was really a deep preparer, and it takes an inordinate amount of time to prepare and to recruit. And um yeah, I wanted I was not I can still coach, but I I wouldn't do those two things at the level to be worthy of coaching. Right. And uh I knew that, so I don't yeah, I I don't miss it. I watch it. Um it oh I'm also advising for the MBA. So uh that uh that's been incredibly interesting. And I follow our program and try to help our own program and coach IR as much as I can.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

Watching the games as opposed to coaching it, is it something where you're watching and you're and you're finding yourself coaching in your head?

SPEAKER_06 28:40

Well, I uh I do that with every sport. And I do it actually, I do it more over the last two years because I can. You know, the uh the biggest gift in retirement is mind space, you know, where you you have you you can think and about other things and focus on other things where uh when you're coaching, you really you better have your eyes on your road and uh uh and not look around, not not gaze. Yeah. And and look at that, where I I I really follow sport even closer now. And uh I'm amazed that you know so many of the interesting things coaches and teams do in all the sports.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Yeah. Uh the ACC recently added uh some new additions. What do you think in general about that and and the the conference uh realignment uh craze?

SPEAKER_06 29:38

Aaron Powell Well, I'm disappointed in the I'm really disappointed in that there's not a Pac-12. I in the history of sport, collegiate sport, the Pac-12 has done so many amazing things and produced not just football and basketball champions, but uh champions, national champions in all sports, and many of our Olympic athletes were trained uh in in uh the Pac-12 universities. And uh I I'm not I'm not sure where all this is gonna end, and and I'm not sure I'm definitely not sure who's leading it.

SPEAKER_05 30:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 30:20

I don't think we have any leadership. I think football's done an amazing job because the uh the the conference commissioners kind of and football's led differently, it's its own entity. But for all the other sports, there's uh there's not there aren't advocates, uh uh there aren't planners. Yeah. Uh and so you're at the mercy of what each conference is doing, not what each sport is doing. And uh so it's a tumultuous time uh for uh college sports.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

For sure. And finally, uh you know, Duke just got a big commit for next season. Um, but what's your what's your outlook for for Duke basketball this season?

SPEAKER_06 31:07

Yeah, good. You know, Coach Shiers and his staff have done a great job, and uh we had a great succession plan, and the greatest part of that plan was choosing somebody who was ready to coach and lead at this level, and John was the obvious choice. So it starts with that, with him, and uh uh I'm fully supportive of him and uh I coached him for he was a national champion for me and and then he was on my staff for eight years. You know, he's he he's he's really a smart coach and a really good guy. And uh yeah, we're lucky to have him.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

Are there any players that you have your eye on this year as far as you know maybe having a breakout season?

SPEAKER_06 31:58

For uh well, for Duke, you know, Kyle Philipowski will has a chance to be one of the best players in the country. Tyrese Proctor, one of our guards, and uh a youngster who played for me, Jeremy Roach is a senior and a solid guy, solid player for uh for us. But uh yeah, there's a lot of good basketball out there, and uh I just hope that we stay healthy. You know, uh these kids put so much into it, and uh now the season's gonna start. It's an exciting time. And uh there'll be surprises on our team too, because we have a few really good young players uh in our freshman class that uh I I think could explode during the year.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Well, Coach Ashewski, thanks for taking the time to share with us uh your vision of the Emily K Center and all about uh the amazing things it does down in Durham, and thanks for for uh you know just generally uh given the time to share your thoughts. We really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_06 33:01

Well, it's uh it it's been an honor to be on. I mean the official Heisman Trophy podcast is uh uh as soon as we heard we had a chance to do it, I uh jumped on it. So thank you for uh considering us and allowing me to be on.

SPEAKER_01 33:17

Fantastic. Thanks, Coach. I really appreciate it. Have a good one. All right, take care.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

This is Ricky Williams, 1998 Heisman Trophy winner, and you're listening to the official Heisman Trophy podcast.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Saturday is Veterans Day, and we want to salute all of our nation's veterans while also honoring the many Heisman Trophy winners who served in our armed forces. I myself spent four years in the Navy, and I'm glad we could shine a bit of light on the sacrifices these men made, which were but a fraction of the millions of Americans who have defended our nation. The Heisman Trophy's first few decades were populated with many winners who served, and it is always a worthy endeavor to look back on their history and share some of their stories. Serving as a flight instructor and reaching the rank of lieutenant commander before going into private business. 1937 winner Clinton Frank of Yale attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Air Corps, serving five years during World War II, and also served as an aide to General Jimmy Doolittle, who led the Tokyo Raid in 1942. Iowa's 1939 winner Niall Kinnock is the only Heisman winner to die in service and the first to die. Kinnock, the Hawkeye student body president as a senior, was a very articulate young man who didn't shy away from sharing his feelings on the politics of his time. After he won the Heisman Trophy and two years before Pearl Harbor, he gave a memorable speech at the Heisman ceremony about how grateful he was to be able to play on the gridirons in the States and not the battlefronts overseas.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Thank you very, very kindly, Mr. Holt. Seems to me that everyone is letting their supervisors run away with them this evening.

SPEAKER_01 37:58

But that is the long, sad, unenlightened road we have taken in the centuries past. Now is the time for these problems to be solved by enlightened thought and understanding. We can accomplish much if we implement mental discipline and inspiration with the real mental courage. His comments during his 1939 speech reflected an isolationist frame of mind of many in the country. By 1941, moods had shifted. On June 2, 1943, Kinnock was on a routine training flight from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, the ship's initial voyage, when his F-4F Wildcat developed an oil leak. Kinnock was forced to execute an emergency landing in the water four miles from the ship, but he died at the process, five weeks shy of his 25th birthday. 1940 Heisman winner Tom Harman enlisted in the Army Air Corps in November of 1941 and served as a pilot. Twice, planes he piloted went down during World War II, including once in 1943 when, en route to North Africa, he was forced to parachute into a South American jungle. Four days later, he was found after safely walking into Dutch Guyana. Like Kinnock, Minnesota's 1941 Heisman Trophy winner, Bruce Smith, also gave a moving speech at the Heisman Trophy ceremony. It was held just two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Smith, who had gone to serve in the Navy as a fighter pilot, rewrote his speech on the train to New York where he was to receive his trophy. Reflecting the sober reality of many young men such as him, he said, Those Far Eastern fellows may think that American boys are soft, but I have had and even have now plenty of evidence in black and blue.

SPEAKER_09 40:10

You'll see I'm making a big mistake.

SPEAKER_01 41:01

Georgia's 1942 winner Frank Sinkwich briefly served in both the U.S. Merchant Marines and the Air Force. He was already enlisted in the Marine Reserves upon winning the Heisman, and he wore his uniform to the ceremony. Instead of receiving the bronze statue that had become the norm, he received a scroll honoring his achievement. A shortage of materials made the downtown athletic club decide to use scrolls until the war ended. Notre Dame's 1943 winner Angelo Bertelli enlisted in the Marine Corps reserves in 1942 while still with the Irish, and he missed the initial trophy presentation while in Marine Corps training. Bertelli rose to the rank of second lieutenant in 1944 and participated in combat operations in the Pacific in 1945, including at the Battle of Iwo Jima, where he was nearly killed by a closely landed mortar. He was stationed in Nagasaki when World War II ended. He later joined the Marine Corps Reserve and served until 1957, reaching the rank of captain. Ohio State's 1944 winner, Les Horbath, graduated from dental school in 1945 and joined the Navy, where he was a junior lieutenant for three years from 1945 to 1947, as well as a dentist. His service included travel to China as a naval dental officer. Army's Glenn Davis, the 1946 Heisman winner, served three years in the Army and reported to Korea before the war. His teammate, Felix Doc Blanchard, 1945, chose to embark upon a career in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot. He garnered a commendation for bravery in 1959 while with the 77th Tactical Fighter Squadron for preventing his faltering F-100 Super Sabre from crashing into a village. Despite it being on fire and having the opportunity to parachute to safety, he stayed with the plane and made a perfect landing. He later flew 113 missions from Thailand during the Vietnam War, 84 of them over North Vietnam, and retired from the Air Force in 1971 as a colonel. Notre Dame's 1947 winner, John Lujack, bookended his time in South Bend around two years serving in the Navy. He served on naval submarines hunting German U-boats in the English Channel as an ensign.

SPEAKER_07 43:12

I told everybody that I was stationed at Fort Pierce, Florida, where they taught you underwater demolition team that was going to go in at Normandy, and you had to go underwater and put mines over these barriers and stuff and blow the place up. And they said, Wow, that is really something. I said, Well, don't get too excited about it because I never got in the water. I was there to play football.

SPEAKER_01 43:44

SMU's Duke Walker, who won the 1948 Heisman, served in the Army for a year in 1946 and, like Lujack, saw his time in the service split his college play in half. Princeton 1951 winner Dick Kazmyyer, the last Ivy Lee. Oklahoma's 1952 winner Billy Vessels served one year as an officer in the U.S. Army. Notre Dame winners John Lattner in 1953 and Paul Horning in 1956 served in the Air Force and Army respectively. Latner served two years in the Air Force and Horning served in 1961, five years into his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers. Horning did, however, receive weekend passes that fall so he could play for Green Bay, enabling him to lead the NFL in scoring for the third year in a row. Army's 1958 Heisman winner Pete Dawkins became the highest-ranking Heisman winner. Dawkins, who spent three years studying at Oxford after finishing at West Point, began his military career with stints in infantry, parachute, and ranger training before getting posted to the 82nd Airborne in 1963, where he commanded a rifle company. Assignments in Vietnam led to commands of a battalion in Korea, a brigade at Fort Ord, and an assignment as an assistant division commander of the 7th Infantry. He commanded the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne en route to becoming a brigadier general. His final posting was in the Pentagon as the Army's Deputy Director of Strategy, Plans, and Policy. Dawkins received two bronze stars for valor for his service in Vietnam. Asked once about his affinity for the airborne branch, Dawkins said it was appealing because elite units, from SEALs and special forces to airborne and rangers, bear a strong resemblance to championship athletic teams in spirit, attitude, and elements of success. Navy 1960 Heisen winner Joe Bellino served through 1965, achieving the rank of lieutenant. He served on a destroyer during the Cuban Missile Crisis, his ship part of fortifications at Guantanamo Bay. He became an executive officer of a minesweeping ship that was deployed three times in Vietnam. Following that, he spent another 24 years in the Navy Reserves, retiring as a captain. The last Heisman winner who served was 1963 winner and Navy quarterback Roger Staubach, who served for two years in Vietnam as part of the U.S. Navy as a supply corps officer and attaining the rank of lieutenant. Interestingly, he was assigned to the Supply Corps because he was colorblind, something missed during his pre-admission exam, and something that would have precluded his service. Staubak, who was stationed at a base in Danang for six months and did another half year at Chulai, serviced mainly Marines based in the area. He commanded over 40 men. In an interview with the U.S. Army website, he said he volunteered to join the service because I wanted to give something back. I came to love the Marine Corps, he said in the U.S. military article, adding that he loves all of the services. But the Marines, I saw them in action. Some of my teammates were Marines, some were shot and killed. It wasn't a popular war, but we were asked to do it. It was a shame how our Vietnam veterans retreated. He later was awarded a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for his actions with the 449th Fighter Squadron.

SPEAKER_10 47:07

I feel very fortunate. And if I if I wasn't given football another chance, I would have stayed in the Navy. I love the Navy and I love the Naval Academy.

SPEAKER_01 47:31

On this Veterans Day, the Heisman Trust salutes all veterans, past and present. We thank you for your service. Special shout out to Isaac Loencron, and big thanks to the Heisman Trophy Trust and its executive director, Rob Whalen, and associate director Tim Henning. The official Heisman Trophy podcast can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and anywhere you listen to your favorite podcast. You can also find clips of our show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Just go to at Heisman Trophy.