Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 DEC. 5, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI T hroughout his marvelous jour- ney on earth, 1956 Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner Paul Hornung had said he would like his epitaph to read: "He went through life on scholarship." That ride finally ended this Nov. 13 when the renowned Fighting Irish "Golden Boy" died at age 84 after a bout with dementia. One of the greatest all-around players in the game, Hornung is of- ten remembered as the lone Heisman Trophy recipient who played on a losing team (2-8). "I can't believe it," Hornung said at the time of his award. "I didn't think I was even up for consideration." Of course, it was a different era. There was no weekly "Heisman Watch," and candidates weren't flown into New York City for the dramatic nationally televised announcement. Hornung said he first heard about it in a phone call from former winner and then radio broad- caster Tom Harmon. "I was told to go to [Notre Dame sports publicity director] Charlie Callahan's office," Hornung re c a l l e d . " W h e n I got there, Char- lie handed me the phone and said, 'Tell your mother you have just won the Heisman Trophy.'" H o w d i d H o r- nung win the '56 Heisman? The Notre Dame name had much to do with it. Hornung became the fifth Fighting Irish re- cipient in 14 seasons, beginning with Angelo Bertelli (1943) and continu- ing with John Lujack (1947), Leon Hart (1949), John Lattner (1953) and himself. Second, Hornung had a stellar ju- nior year, leading the Irish to an 8-2 mark and finishing fifth in the Heis- man race — the highest among all non-seniors. Finally, football grants-in-aid had been cut back at Notre Dame in the early 1950s, and the roster had be- come thinner under third-year head coach Terry Brennan. With Notre Dame bereft of the depth it once had, Hornung became the most versatile player in college football. He lined up at quarterback, fullback and halfback, played through several injuries, kicked, punted, accounted for more than half of the team's scor- ing and was second in tackles (55). Wrote the esteemed Dick Schaap in Sport magazine: "In recent years many schools have had football teams named Desire. In 1956 Notre Dame had a football team named Hornung. He passed. He tackled. He intercepted passes. Surrounded by the walking wounded, playing for a team crippled by injuries, Hornung was the whole show." NFL STARDOM The No. 1 overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft, Hornung joined the hap- less Green Bay Packers, who in the 12-years from 1947-58 never had a winning season and were 3-9 and 1-10-1 in Hornung's first two sea- sons, which had him contemplating leaving the game. With Vince Lombardi's hiring in 1959, though, Hornung moved from quarterback to halfback and became the centerpiece of one of the great dynasties in sports history. Hornung led the league in scoring from 1959- 61, and he was on four Packer teams that won NFL titles. "In the middle of the field he may be only slightly better than an aver- age ballplayer," Lombardi once said, "but inside the 20-yard line he is one of the greatest I have ever seen. He smells that goal line." After setting an NFL record with 176 points in 1961, Hornung was sum- moned to duty by the Army shortly before the 1961 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants — until President John F. Kennedy inter- ceded and granted him leave. "Paul Hornung isn't going to win the war on Sunday, but the football fans of this country deserve the two best teams on the field that day," Kennedy said. The Packers easily won the title with Hornung scoring 19 points, a title-game record back then in a 37-0 victory. "The thing I'm proudest of is that I made the College Hall of Fame as a quarterback and the Pro Hall of Fame as a running back," Hornung said. Such flexibility led to the Paul Hor- nung Award that since 2010 honors college football's most versatile high- level performer. LARGER THAN LIFE Years ago, 1953 Heisman winner Lattner and 1950s basketball All- American Tom Hawkins, recalled their friendship with Hornung. Lattner was a senior and Hornung a freshman when he was instructed to help him assimilate to life in college. Hornung won the 1956 Heisman Trophy, becoming the fifth Notre Dame player to do so. He went on to become the No. 1 pick in the 1957 NFL Draft and even- tually helped lead the Green Bay Packers to four NFL titles, including the first Super Bowl. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS THE 'GOLDEN BOY' STANDARD Remembering Paul Hornung, one of the all-timers on and off the football field