One of the most celebrated awards in all of sports, the Heisman Trophy was first presented in 1935 by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. The first winner, Jay Berwanger, was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles but declined to sign for them. He never played professional football for any team. In 1936, one of the pioneers of college football, legendary coach John Heisman, died and the trophy was renamed in his honor.

Why Heisman? No one more thoroughly studied the dynamics of football or witnessed more closely the game’s evolution. No one personally knew more immortals of the gridiron or effected more change in the game’s development, than John Heisman. Born in 1869, grew up on the oil fields of northwest Pennsylvania, in the town of Titusville. His first football games were a hodgepodge of soccer and rugby. In 1887, at age 17 he left Titusville for Brown University where he played a form of club football with his classmates. After two years, in the fall of 1889, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a law degree. He later served as the first Athletic Director of the Downtown Athletic Club and organized and founded the National Football Coaches Association. During his coaching career, Heisman changed the face of the game that became America’s passion. What he considered his greatest contribution, the forward pass, was legalized in 1906, after three years of writing and pestering Walter Camp and the rules committee. Much of the official rule book of the day adopted Heisman’s suggestions word for word.

Presented is a 40¼ x 56¼-inch framed, full-color giclee print of an original oil painting depicting four legendary Heisman Trophy winners – from left to right, Jim Plunkett, Paul Hornung, Roger Staubach and Earl Campbell – beneath the image of the Heisman Trophy. It has been signed and inscribed by 29 Heisman Trophy winners in black marker across the bottom half of the painting. Notable signatures and inscriptions include “Jim Plunkett Heisman Winner 1970” across his jersey, “Paul Hornung 56 Heisman Winner” across his jersey, “Roger Staubach Heisman Winer 1963” across his jersey, and “Earl Campbell 77 Heisman Winner” over his football pants. Beneath the image of the Heisman Trophy is the signature of Jay Berwanger and the inscription “1st Heisman Winner 1935” below his signature.

Additional signatures include Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Doak Walker, as well as Archie Griffin, Larry Kelley, George Rozier, Pat Sullivan, Billy Sims, Glenn Davis, John David Crow, Hopalong Cassaday, Gino Torretta and Charles White. The painting is set within a black felt matte within a gold and black wood frame. This painting comes with a full LOA from JSA (Z78659).

Auction Notepad