Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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have been in the Navy — you're a cruiser!" Leahy would tell him. The greatest athletes have a ten- dency to look as if they're in cruise control, but Leahy's statement was about maximizing Lattner's skills with a more passionate effort. "He used that line quite a bit, espe- cially when I was a freshman," said Lattner, whose Leahy impersonations could be a road show. "I wasn't a real fast back. I was a big back for those days, about 195 pounds and close to 6-foot-3 … "My speed wasn't the best, but most of the time it was because I had no intensity. I had to push myself all the time — and Leahy would help. I had some talent — don't get me wrong — but I had to keep improving on what I had. I wasn't gifted with a lot of speed. "I could play defense, and I had a lit- tle strength behind my running … but if I didn't hit the hole fast enough, or would get tackled from behind, then there was that reaction from Coach that I wasn't extending myself." Leahy had already produced four national titles at Notre Dame and never lost a game from 1946-49. How- ever, the recruiting gravy train had ended in the late 1940s with football scholarship cutbacks, injuries arose … and all of a sudden the Irish finished 4-4-1 in 1950. A product of Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Ill., the Chicago native Lattner was the rock upon whom JOHN LATTNER BY THE NUMBERS 1 Heisman Trophy winner ever from Chicago — Lattner. His first Heisman was destroyed in a 1968 fire at a Chicago restaurant he owned with a partner. It was replaced with a new one, courtesy of the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. 2 Players in college football history — Lattner and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow (2006-09) — who have won the Maxwell Award twice. Lattner won the honor, presented annually since 1937 to the nation's top player, in 1952 and 1953. Other Notre Dame recipients were Leon Hart (1949), Jim Lynch (1966) Ross Browner (1977) and Brady Quinn (2006). 5 Fumbles lost by Lattner in 1952 during a 26-14 defeat of No. 9 Purdue, the one record he often liked to say he still holds at Notre Dame. The two teams actually combined for an unbelievable 21 fumbles in that game, with the Irish recovering 15. Head coach Frank Leahy made Lattner carry a football with him everywhere the following week — but a friend installed a handle on the football to make it easier. 9 Seconds left in overtime when Lattner scored the game-winning basket in Notre Dame's 75-74 victory over No. 18-ranked NYU in Madison Square Garden on Feb. 25, 1952. With three top Irish players declared academically ineligible in the second semester Lattner joined the hoops squad to help out as a reserve. 9-1-2 Notre Dame's record against ranked opponents in Lattner's last two seasons. The Irish finished No. 3 in 1952 and No. 2 in 1953. Since then, Notre Dame has had back-to-back top- three finishes only one other time: 1988 (No. 1) and 1989 (No. 2). 16 Notre Dame players in history who were twice named consensus All-Americans. Lattner is the last Irish running back to achieve that feat (1952-53), although the recognition was earned just as much for his play on defense and special teams.