Nile Kinnick - Adel Native and 1939 Heisman Trophy Winner

Nile Kinnick was born on July 9, 1918, in Adel, Iowa, the grandson of a governor. His grandfather, George Clarke was Governor of Iowa from 1913 to 1917 and practiced law in Adel. Nile was a star athlete in football and basketball at Adel High School for three years before the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska after his junior year. He never was very imposing, nor was he a particularly quick athlete, but he made the most of what he had. After failing a football tryout with the University of Minnesota, Kinnick went to Iowa, later saying the campus "is almost like home to me." His shifty running style helped earn him the nickname "The Cornbelt Comet." But his play didn't help Iowa win in his first two seasons: The Hawkeyes went 1-7 when Kinnick was all-Big Ten as a sophomore in 1937 and 1-6-1 in 1938 when Kinnick was slowed to a near halt by an ankle injury suffered in the opening game.

In 1939, Irl Tubbs was out as coach, Eddie Anderson was in, and the path was cleared for Kinnick's senior season. Like many of his teammates, Kinnick seldom left the field. So prevalent were 60-minute men on the undermanned Hawkeyes that the team was nicknamed "The Ironmen."

Kinnick was on the field an average of 57 minutes per game. He played 402 consecutive minutes against Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue, Notre Dame, Minnesota and Northwestern before a separated shoulder in the season-finale against the Wildcats forced him to the sideline.

In the season-opening 41-0 romp over South Dakota, Kinnick ran for three touchdowns and dropkicked five extra points. The next game, with Iowa trailing by three points, his fourth-quarter touchdown pass gave the Hawkeyes a 32-29 victory over Indiana.

Against No. 2 Notre Dame, Kinnick scored Iowa's touchdown and kicked the decisive extra point in a 7-6 upset. A week later, his seven completions accounted for 157 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a stunning victory over perennial power Minnesota. This prompted one Chicago newspaper to print the headline, "Kinnick 13, Minnesota 9."

A victory over Northwestern would have given Iowa the Big Ten championship, but Kinnick was injured in the third quarter and the Hawkeyes struggled to a 7-7 tie, dropping them to a 4-1-1 second-place finish behind Ohio State. With an overall record of 6-1-1, Iowa was ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll.

A halfback who was the team's main passer, Kinnick threw for 638 yards and 11 touchdowns as well as rushing for 374 yards on 106 carries (3.5-yard average). He also made 11-of-17 dropkick conversion attempts and scored 41 points. By passing, running or kicking, Kinnick was directly involved in 107 of Iowa's 130 points that season. He also made eight interceptions.

He finished his career with 1,674 yards rushing, 18 interceptions (an Iowa record that lasted half a century) and an average of 39.9 yards per punt.

The Chicago Tribune's version of the Big Ten MVP award preceded Kinnick's winning the Walter Camp and Maxwell awards, further validating the prevailing opinion he was the nation's best football player. On December 6, 1939, his acceptance of the Heisman Trophy became a seminal moment - both in athletics and in oratory. Kinnick opened by saying, "It seems to me that everyone is letting their superlatives run away with them this evening, but I want you to know that I am mighty, mighty happy to accept this trophy." Standing in front of patriotic bunting and wearing a broad shouldered, double-breasted, pinstriped suit that was fashionable at the time, Kinnick closed with a thought that mirrored the uneasy anticipation of American involvement in a war that was still an ocean away.

"If you'll permit me," he said, "I'd like to make a comment which, in my mind, is indicative perhaps of the greater significance of football and sports emphasis in general in this country. And that is I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest and not on the battlefields of Europe. I can speak confidently and positively that the players of this country would much more, much rather struggle and fight to win the Heisman award than the Croix de Guerre."

After hearing the speech, Bill Cunningham wrote in The Boston Globe, "The country is OK as long as it produces Nile Kinnicks. The football part is incidental."

Kinnick's celebrity became so strong, he was named 1939's top male athlete in the country by the Associated Press. The honor was particularly noteworthy considering his competition included Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis and Byron Nelson.

With a 3.4 grade-point average and the senior-class presidency on his résumé, Kinnick passed on a possible career in the National Football League, turning down a $10,000 offer from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Instead, he chose law school at Iowa.

In August 1941, Kinnick decided war was imminent and joined the Naval Air Corps Reserve. While waiting to be called to active duty, he was an assistant coach for Iowa that fall. On December 4, three days before Pearl Harbor, he reported for duty.

"There is no reason in the world why we shouldn't fight for the preservation of a chance to live freely," he later wrote in a letter home. "No reason why we shouldn't suffer to uphold that which we want to endure. May God give me the courage to do my duty and not falter."

On June 2, 1943, Kinnick was flying a training mission from the U.S.S. Lexington off the coast of Venezuela when he experienced engine problems. Rather than try a dangerous landing on the Lexington and endangering personnel, he attempted an emergency landing into the Caribbean.

Although a boat arrived on the scene within eight minutes, and rescue parties searched for several hours, Kinnick's body was never found amid the oil slick. Nile Kinnick was 24.

"I never had a shock like that in my life," said Al Couppee, blocking quarterback on the 1939 Hawkeyes. "Hell, I thought he was going to live forever."

Nile Kinnick's name certainly has. He was inducted into the charter class of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951, and not only did the Hawkeyes retire his No. 24, they named the football stadium in his honor in 1972. Highway 169 going north & south through Adel is named Nile Kinnick Drive. In 2007, at the annual Adel Sweet Corn Festival, his Heisman Trophy was on loan from the University of Iowa and displayed for all to see in his hometown.

Nile Kinnick Resources

The Adel Historical Museum has more information about Nile Kinnick's life and football career. Jan Price, the Museum Coordinator, can be reached at 515-993-1032 for information about Museum hours and the Kinnick items in the Museum.

University of Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame

Photograph of Nile Kinnick's remarks at the Heisman Trophy acceptance speech

The Kinnick Project