BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 62,896
- Reaction score
- 20,439
- Points
- 113
per Greder:
At the Downtown Athletic Club, Smith thanked voters, teammates and coaches, and acknowledged the award’s six previous winners. Then, the 21-year-old used football to explain the strength America would display in the dark days ahead.
“Football certainly has become an important part of American life. It even seems to have a place in diplomacy. I remember reading in the newspapers that Mr. Caruso, the Japanese envoy, told the newspapermen on arriving here that he expected to carry the ball for a touchdown. As you all know by now, it didn’t work out that way. It looked as though he tried a quarterback sneak before the field was ruled.
“In the Far East, they may think American boys are soft, but I have had, and even have now, plenty of evidence in black and blue to prove that they are making a big mistake. I think America will owe a great debt to the game of football when we finish this thing off. If six million American youngsters like myself are able to take it and come back for more, both from a physical standpoint and that of morale. If teaching team play and cooperation and exercise to go out and fight hard for the honor of our schools, then likewise, the same skills can be depended on when we have to fight to defend for our country.”
That was 75 years ago, and the Gophers will posthumously honor their only Heisman Trophy winner during Saturday’s game against Colorado State at TCF Bank Stadium. Simpatico with Smith’s team-first approach, the Gophers’ 1941 National Championship team also will be honored.
“It was a very eventful and wonderful thing for him,” said Smith’s younger sister, June, now 90 and living in Roseville. “He was very appreciate of all the things that he received from his teammates and everything. He wasn’t Johnny Football.”
http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/2...ith-used-heisman-to-lift-the-nations-spirits/
Go Gophers!!
At the Downtown Athletic Club, Smith thanked voters, teammates and coaches, and acknowledged the award’s six previous winners. Then, the 21-year-old used football to explain the strength America would display in the dark days ahead.
“Football certainly has become an important part of American life. It even seems to have a place in diplomacy. I remember reading in the newspapers that Mr. Caruso, the Japanese envoy, told the newspapermen on arriving here that he expected to carry the ball for a touchdown. As you all know by now, it didn’t work out that way. It looked as though he tried a quarterback sneak before the field was ruled.
“In the Far East, they may think American boys are soft, but I have had, and even have now, plenty of evidence in black and blue to prove that they are making a big mistake. I think America will owe a great debt to the game of football when we finish this thing off. If six million American youngsters like myself are able to take it and come back for more, both from a physical standpoint and that of morale. If teaching team play and cooperation and exercise to go out and fight hard for the honor of our schools, then likewise, the same skills can be depended on when we have to fight to defend for our country.”
That was 75 years ago, and the Gophers will posthumously honor their only Heisman Trophy winner during Saturday’s game against Colorado State at TCF Bank Stadium. Simpatico with Smith’s team-first approach, the Gophers’ 1941 National Championship team also will be honored.
“It was a very eventful and wonderful thing for him,” said Smith’s younger sister, June, now 90 and living in Roseville. “He was very appreciate of all the things that he received from his teammates and everything. He wasn’t Johnny Football.”
http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/2...ith-used-heisman-to-lift-the-nations-spirits/
Go Gophers!!
