15 Facts About Jay Berwanger

John Jacob "Jay" Berwanger was an American college football player and referee.

In 1935, Berwanger was the first recipient of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, renamed the Heisman Trophy the following year.

Jay Berwanger was a star halfback for Chicago, where he was known as the "one man football team".

Jay Berwanger was nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman", although his ancestry was actually German, and the "Man in the Iron Mask", because he wore a special face guard to protect his twice-broken nose.

Jay Berwanger was awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference and earned unanimous All-America honors.

Jay Berwanger competed in track and field for Chicago, setting a school decathlon record in 1936 that stood until 2007.

Jay Berwanger was a brother of the Psi Upsilon fraternity.

In voting for the award, Jay Berwanger received 84 votes, finishing ahead of Army's Monk Meyer, Notre Dame's William Shakespeare, and Princeton's Pepper Constable.

In 1936, Jay Berwanger was the first player ever drafted into the National Football League in its inaugural 1936 NFL draft.

Jay Berwanger initially chose not to sign with the Bears in part to preserve his amateur status so that he could compete for a spot on the US team for the 1936 Summer Olympics in the decathlon.

Jay Berwanger later expressed regret that he did not accept Halas's offer.

In 2016, Jay Berwanger was inducted into the Rugby Hall of Fame.

Jay Berwanger was very modest about the Heisman Trophy; unsure what to do with the trophy, he left it with his Aunt Gussie, who used it as a doorstop.

Jay Berwanger is a member of both the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame and Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.

Jay Berwanger died after a lengthy battle with lung cancer at his home in Oak Brook, Illinois, on June 26,2002, at the age of 88.