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| Nile Kinnick |
Iowa Hawkeye fans were stunned in June 1943 when they learned the former halfback Nile Kinnick had died in action.
Kinnick’s parents told reporters they hadn’t
heard from him since May 22. They thought he was assigned to an aircraft
carrier somewhere in the Atlantic but weren’t sure where. The navy subsequently
reported Kinnick’s Grumman F4F Wildcat suffered a catastrophic oil leak shortly
after takeoff from the USS Lexington. Nevertheless, he followed protocol and ditched
his aircraft in the water about four miles from the carrier. Unfortunately, his
body was never found.
When Kinnick enlisted in the naval air corps in
September 1941, he told reporters, “I would be lacking in appreciation for all
America has done for me did I not offer what little I had to her.
“And I’m going in with both fists swinging.”
Before entering the service, Kinnick had earned honors as an All-American halfback with the University of Iowa
football team. In addition, Kinnick won several awards, including the Heisman
Trophy, Maxwell Trophy, and the Walter Camp Award of the Touchdown Club of
Washington, D. C.
When he won the Heisman Trophy, Kinnick said:
“I thank God I was born to the gridirons of the Midwest and not the
battlefields of Europe. I can confidently say that the boys of this country
would rather win this trophy than the Croix de Guerre.”
Kinnick was player of the year in 1939, then
surprised everyone when he turned down a $10,000 offer to play pro ball with
the Brooklyn Dodgers. Instead, Kinnick enrolled in the University of
Iowa law school.
In November 1945, students voted to rename the school’s
stadium after Nile Kinnick.
(Public Domain photograph from Wikimedia Commons)
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