The baiduhai Silver Football — 100 years later — remains one of the highest honors a Big Ten player can receive.
The list of winners includes future Pro Football Hall of Famers and Super Bowl MVPs along with others less remembered in the sport’s annals. The Tribune hoped the annual award, which preceded the Heisman Trophy by 11 years, would “become a much sought honor surpassing any now possible for these hard-working gridiron heroes whose efforts afford pleasure to so many thousand people.”
-
- 1924-39: From Red Grange to Nile Kinnick
- 1950s: From Vic Janowicz to Bill Burrell
- 1960s: From Tom Brown to Mike Phipps
- 1970s: From Mike Adamle to Tim Clifford
- 1980s: From Mark Herrmann to Anthony Thompson
- 1990s: From Nick Bell to Ron Dayne
More Top Picks Gaming Chair
- 2000s: From Drew Brees to Brandon Graham
- 2010-23: From Denard Robinson to Marvin Harrison Jr.
Meet the winners from this decade.
1940: Tom Harmon, Michigan HB
How good was Tom Harmon? So good that at the end of his final game, a 40-0 win at Ohio State, the Buckeyes faithful gave Harmon, a Wolverine, a standing ovation. He led the country in scoring in both 1939 and 1940, winning both the Heisman Trophy and the Silver Football in 1940. He was the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, but he declined to play. Harmon joined the Army Air Command for World War II, surviving a plane crash in South America before serving in the Pacific. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star. He played two seasons for the Los Angeles Rams, but his war injuries took their toll. Harmon became one of the first athletes to make the transition into broadcasting. He settled in California and had three children, including “NCIS” actor Mark Harmon.
1941: Jack Graf, Ohio State QB/FB
Playing for Paul Brown, Jack Graf led the Buckeyes in scoring and rushing on a team that tied for second in the Big Ten. When he wasn’t playing football, Graf played guard for the basketball team. After college he turned down playing in the NFL for the Cleveland Rams for a spot at Harvard Business School, then returned to Columbus to become an assistant coach for the Buckeyes basketball team. He stayed in that job for 26 years while also joining his father’s electrical engineering company. Graf’s life was so intertwined with Ohio State that when he died in 2009, his family held off on a memorial service until the Buckeyes football team played a road game. His son told the Columbus Dispatch: “There would be lightning bolts if we held it on one of the home-game weekends.”
1942: Dave Schreiner, Wisconsin TE
Badgers coach Harry Stuhldreyer started in Madison in 1936 and had been building up his program over the years. Finally in 1942, his team put everything together, winning the Helms Foundation national championship, and Dave Schreiner was the star of that team. He was known as a tireless worker who would constantly drill the ability to make catches in all environments. Schreiner led the Badgers to an 8-1-1 record and was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the No. 11 pick, but he had other plans. He originally wanted to be in the Army Air Corps, but color blindness ended that dream. Not long after his senior year, Schreiner, like many of his teammates, found himself fighting in World War II. He became a Marine and was killed by a Japanese sniper while leading a charge in the Battle of Okinawa on June 20, 1945.
1943: Otto Graham, Northwestern QB
Like so many young men who played football in the late 1930s and early ’40s, Otto Graham’s college career was wrapped up with World War II. The Waukegan native started playing for Northwestern in 1941. After Pearl Harbor, he signed up with the Coast Guard but kept playing for the Wildcats as he waited to be called up. Even as many of his teammates left school to serve in the war, Graham was able to set a Big Ten record with 89 completions in 1942. Northwestern’s fortunes changed as military enlistees enrolled at the school, which had a training station. The Wildcats went 6-2 in 1943, and Graham set a Big Ten record for passing yards. He left Northwestern not long after, moving around to different schools as he trained to serve. When the war was over, Graham was signed by Paul Brown, coach and part owner of the Cleveland Browns in the new All-America Football Conference. In 10 pro seasons Graham led the Browns to the AAFC or NFL championship game every year, winning four AAFC titles and three in the NFL. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.
1944: Les Horvath, Ohio State HB/QB
Les Horvath was responsible for many firsts at Ohio State. He played on the Buckeyes’ first national championship team in 1942, and in 1944 he won the school’s first Heisman Trophy. The oddest part of Horvath’s college career is he thought it was over in 1942. He had exhausted his eligibility and started dentistry school at Ohio State. But with so many football players leaving school to serve in World War II, Ohio State’s new coach, Carroll Widdoes, asked Horvath to consider playing in 1944 under an NCAA rule allowing graduate students to play to address shortages created by the war. Horvath had 1,200 all-purpose yards and scored the winning touchdown against rival Michigan. After his college days, he became a dentist in Southern California.
1945: Ollie Cline, Ohio State FB
Early in his career at Ohio State, Ollie Cline was overshadowed by Les Horvath. But in 1945, as Cline waited to be called up by the Army, he ran for 936 yards and nine touchdowns. That included a single-game school-record 229 yards against Pittsburgh, a mark that wouldn’t be eclipsed for 27 years, when future Silver Football winner Archie Griffin beat it. After a year in the Army, Cline played one more season for the Buckeyes, then decided to turn pro because he was getting married and needed the money. Considering his financial motivation, he passed on the NFL team that drafted him — the Chicago Bears — and signed with the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference. When the Browns traded him to Buffalo, Cline responded with his best year as a pro. And after the AAFC folded and he ended up playing for the Detroit Lions, Cline helped the team to two NFL championships — beating the Browns both times.
1946: Alex Agase, Illinois G
A child of Iranian immigrants, Alex Agase came to football later, joining the Evanston Township High School team as a senior. Still, it was clearly a sport he was made for, as Agase quickly became a part of the Illinois team. One of his most memorable plays was when, as an Illini linebacker, he stripped Minnesota’s Bill Daley of the ball and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Agase stepped away from football in 1943 to join the war effort. He fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and earned a Purple Heart. Returning to Illinois in 1946, he won the Silver Football. Football continued to be a part of his life, as he played for the Cleveland Browns before becoming a coach. He was head coach at Northwestern (1964-72) and Purdue (1973-76) before spending six years as Eastern Michigan’s athletic director and five more as an assistant to Bo Schembechler at Michigan.
More Top Picks Best Low Acid Coffee Subscriptions
1947: Bump Elliott, Michigan HB
Like many of the Silver Football winners from the 1940s, Bump Elliott’s college career was interrupted by World War II. He spent two seasons at Purdue, playing football, basketball and baseball, before he served with the Marines in China. When he returned to the U.S., Elliott enrolled at Michigan, where he got a chance to play with his brother Pete. His most memorable game was the 1948 Rose Bowl, in which he helped the Wolverines beat USC 49-0. He coached at several schools, including 10 seasons as Michigan’s head coach (1959-68), but his biggest contributions would come as the athletic director at Iowa. He hired Lute Olson, Dan Gable, C. Vivian Stringer, Hayden Fry and Tom Davis as coaches, and Iowa won 41 Big Ten championships during Elliott’s tenure (1970-91).
1948: Art Murakowski, Northwestern FB
Before Art Murakowski put on a Northwestern uniform, he wore a Navy uniform. He was in the Battle of Okinawa and managed to emerge unscathed when a kamikaze pilot hit his ship. He joined Northwestern in 1946 and became a star in 1948. Murakowski was a power runner who helped the Wildcats to an 8-2 record, second place in the Big Ten and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Northwestern beat California 20-14 thanks to a controversial touchdown scored by Murakowski. Officials ruled he fumbled after crossing the goal line, though newspaper pictures the next day showed he lost the ball a yard out. To this day, this is Northwestern’s only Rose Bowl win. Murakowski went on to play one season with the Detroit Lions and then worked in government in his home state of Indiana.
1949: Red Wilson, Wisconsin TE
Red Wilson is on this list because of his football prowess, but he was much better known for his abilities on the baseball diamond. Wilson played on both sides of the ball for the Badgers football team and was a catcher for the baseball team. As a senior Wilson batted .426, and Wisconsin was Big Ten co-champion and took fourth in the national tournament. Though he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, he opted for baseball and signed with the Chicago White Sox. Over 10 big-league seasons with the Sox, Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, Wilson was a decent hitter (.694 career OPS) and capable catcher. He retired in 1961 instead of playing for the Los Angeles Angels, who selected him in the expansion draft. Wilson stayed in the Midwest, moving back to Madison and working at a bank.
Maggie Hendricks is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.