Nile Kinnick - Iowa City, Iowa
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Saureus
N 41° 39.435 W 091° 33.068
15T E 620634 N 4612736
Statue of the 1939 Heisman Trophy winner and All-American Nile Kinnick, standing in front of the stadium that bears his name.
Waymark Code: WM3H69
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 04/06/2008
Views: 106
Nile Kinnick played halfback for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes from 1936 to 1939. In his senior year he was awarded the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Trophy, and was the top vote-getter in the national for the All-American team. But Iowans remember him just as much for his character. He was elected the student body president, and gave up an opportunity for a career in professional football to enter law school at Iowa. He was in several academic honor societies and ranked 3rd in his class during his first year in law school while serving as an assistant football coach for the university.
The following statements are taken from the Wikipedia article on Nile Kinnick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_Kinnick):
Kinnick's Heisman Trophy acceptance speech, made approximately one year before the United States entered World War II, is remembered as one of the most eloquent and moving ever given.
Bill Cunningham of the Boston Post wrote, "This country's okay as long as it produces Nile Kinnicks. The football part is incidental." AP reporter Whitney Martin wrote, "You realized the ovation (after his Heisman speech) wasn't alone for Nile Kinnick, the outstanding college football player of the year. It was also for Nile Kinnick, typifying everything admirable in American youth." Another observer said that Kinnick's remarks "tackled Demosthenes and threw Cicero for a 15-yard loss."
However, after one year of law school, with Europe already embroiled in World War II, he left school to enlist in the Naval Air Reserve, proclaiming "May God give me the courage to do my duty and not falter. Every man whom I've admired in history has willingly and courageously served in his country's armed forces in times of danger. It is not only a duty but an honor to follow their example the best I know how. May God give me the courage and ability to so conduct myself in every situation that my country, my family, and my friends will be proud of me."
On June 2, 1943, he was piloting a plane on a training mission in the Gulf of Venezuela when it developed a mechanical problem and went down at sea. Rescue ships arrived on the scene after only eight minutes, but his body was never recovered.
The University of Iowa renamed its stadium "Kinnick Stadium" in 1972. The statue, showing Kinnick as a student first, with his football letterman's jacket over his shoulder, was sculpted by Larry Nowlan and was unveiled in 2006. While at the stadium, also look for the 9 x 16 foot relief on the wall depicting Kinnick's touchdown against Notre Dame in 1939.
URL of the statue: Not listed
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