Heisman’s Player Gave It Mighty Try

John Heisman, the man for whom the trophy is named, was a well-traveled football coach who made his greatest impact at Georgia Tech, where, in 1916, the Engineers beat Cumberland, 222-0, still the biggest score in college history.

One of his star players at Tech was Indian Joe Guyon, a future Hall of Famer who had transferred from Carlisle, where he played with Jim Thorpe. On a trip to play Tulane, Heisman said he told Guyon of a restaurant in New Orleans where the oysters were a special treat.

Before the game, Heisman noticed Guyon sitting in a corner, obviously ill.

“The oysters,” said Guyon when Heisman asked him what was wrong.

“They didn’t agree with you?” Heisman asked.

“Well, the first four or five dozen did,” Guyon said. “I think I got some bad ones after that.”

Stamp of Approval: The following appeared last week on the video display that flashes the news at the Tustin Post Office: “Miami’s Vinny Testaverde will win the Heisman Trophy Saturday. If he doesn’t, it will be more scandalous than the Iran-Contras fiasco.”

Add Testaverde: His father, Al, said Vinny already was head and shoulders above the rest of the kids at age 6.

“This caused problems,” Al said. “I was ready to yank him out of youth football and give up. He was so tall and so good that nobody believed he was 6. They would always complain. I always had to carry his birth certificate around with me.”

Trivia Time: Why didn’t such stars as Sammy Baugh of Texas Christian and Bobby Grayson of Stanford get votes in the first Heisman Trophy voting in 1935? (Answer below.)

For What It’s Worth: Ted Tollner’s record is the worst ever for a USC football coach in his first four years.

Gloomy Gus Henderson leads at .909. He’s followed by John Robinson .878, Howard Jones .860, Jess Hill .733, John McKay .646, Jeff Cravath .631 and Tollner .576.

McKay was a loser in his first two seasons, then won a national championship in 1962.

Hill, like Tollner, was 1-7 against UCLA and Notre Dame, but he was in tougher company, going against coaching giants Red Sanders of UCLA and Frank Leahy of Notre Dame. There were cries for Hill’s scalp, but he survived two more years before moving up to athletic director in 1957.

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Coach Buddy Ryan, after the Philadelphia Eagles picked up receiver Bobby Duckworth following his release from the Rams: “As soon as I saw him available I wanted him because two years ago he killed us out in San Diego when I was with the Bears. He’s another Mike Quick-type guy, I think.”

Said Ryan, after cutting him a month later: “We think four weeks was enough time to learn the pass offense.”

DeLoss Dodds, Texas athletic director, on new football Coach David McWilliams, former football captain and assistant coach at Texas: “He’s as burnt orange as anyone who has ever set foot on these 40 acres.”

Trivia Answer: In the first year of the award, it was limited to players east of the Mississippi.

Quotebook

Tony Collins of the New England Patriots, on his bruised ribs: “They only hurt when I’m running, stretching, twisting or breathing.”