Iowa Hawkeyes fans were stunned in June 1943 when they learned that former
halfback Nile Kinnick had died in action.
Kinnick’s parents told reporters they hadn’t heard from him
since May 22. They thought he was assigned to an aircraft carrier somewhere in
the Atlantic, but weren’t sure where. The Navy subsequently reported Kinnick’s
Grumman F4F Wildcat suffered a catastrophic oil leak shortly after takeoff from
the USS Lexington. He followed protocol and ditched his aircraft in the water
about four miles from the carrier. Unfortunately, his body was never found.
When Kinnick enlisted in the Naval Air Corps in September
1941, he told reporters, “I would be lacking in appreciation for all America
has done for me did I not offer what little I had to her.
“And I’m going in with both fists swinging.”
Before
entering the service, Kinnick had earned honors as an All-American halfback with the University of Iowa
football team. In addition, Kinnick won several awards, including the Heisman
Trophy, the Maxwell Trophy, and the Walter Camp Award of the Touchdown Club of
Washington, D.C.
When he won the Heisman Trophy, Kinnick said: “I thank God
I was born to the gridirons of the Midwest and not the battlefields of Europe.
I can confidently say that the boys of this country would rather win this
trophy than the Croix de Guerre.”
Kinnick was player of the year in 1939, then surprised
everyone when he turned down a $10,000 offer to play pro ball with the Brooklyn
Dodgers. Instead,
Kinnick enrolled in the University of Iowa Law School.
In November 1945, students voted to rename the school’s
stadium after Nile Kinnick.
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