Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1170354
52 SEPT. 30, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI E very September in the back half of the 20th century, the "Leahy Lads" would reunite on the Notre Dame campus to take in a football game and reminisce about the Golden Age from 1941-43 and 1946-53. During that 11-year stretch under head coach Frank Leahy, the Fighting Irish won four national titles, finished in the top five on four other occasions, had six unbeaten seasons and did not lose in 39 consecutive games. A sparse number of such lads re- main, yet still making the trek to this year 's game against New Mexico Sept. 14 was Johnny Lujack, who will turn 95 on Jan. 4. There was word that it would be Lujack's last such trip be- cause of the toll such travel can take on a man of his age, yet he basked in the sunshine that day just as he did during all his football glory, and be- yond, in his playing days. Other than maybe Leon Hart, no lad was more synonymous with that golden age than Lujack, the oldest surviving Heisman Trophy winner (1947) and the lone quarterback in Football Bowl Subdivision annals to direct three national titles — yet one who was equally renowned for his prowess on defense. To longtime fol- lowers, he remains "the greatest liv- ing Notre Dame player." Growing up in the 1930s in Con- nellsville, Pa., one of Lujack's favor- ite childhood memories was listen- ing to Notre Dame football games on a Philco radio. On a piece of paper, he would draw the lines of a foot- ball field and chart the progress of the game. By 1942, Lujack was suiting up for Leahy's Fighting Irish en route to one of the most glamorous football careers ever. After helping lead a national title drive in 1943, he served a two-year World War II naval stint aboard a sub- chaser off the coast of England before returning to Notre Dame to help engi- neer two more national titles in 1946 and 1947. With his All-Pro career (1948-51) on both sides of the ball cut short by in- juries, Lujack coached with Leahy in his final two years (1952-53) before going into the automobile partner- ship business with his father-in-law in Davenport, Iowa. Lujack also has es- tablished a generous academic schol- arship endowment at Notre Dame. Here are excerpts from our inter- view with Lujack just over a decade ago that remain as applicable today. Q: When 1943 Heisman Trophy winner Angelo Bertelli had to leave Notre Dame halfway through that season to join the Marines, you had to step in as a sophomore — yet still won the national title against the country's toughest schedule, beating teams that were ranked Nos. 2, 3, 4, 9, 11 and 13. Were there any nerves on your part? JL: "I had played an awful lot in my sophomore year even before Bertelli left. Somebody had written it up that I averaged 43 and a half minutes per game as an 18-year-old sophomore while playing both offense and de- fense. … As a sophomore, I was play- ing both ways, I was scrimmaging against the varsity in practices … so you had enough confidence in your ability that when Bertelli — who was the best pure passer I had ever seen — left in mid-season it didn't feel like there was any added pressure. "You just kind of figured, 'Let's go! Let's do the things the coach would say and let your ability take over.' Maybe I had pressure, but I was dumb enough not to recognize it. I didn't feel it at the time." Lujack, the oldest living Heisman Trophy winner, attended the Notre Dame home opener against New Mexico with family members. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS A NOTRE DAME TREASURE Johnny Lujack continues his affinity for the school at age 94