woodbuck27
07-03-2006, 06:12 PM
HORNUNG'S CAREER NEVER DUPLICATED
By FRANK DASCENZO / The Herald-Sun
DURHAM -- Wise men claim that "forever is a long time," and they often warn "never say never," but Paul Hornung can say both, and do so with impact. Born Dec. 23, 1935 in Louisville, Ky., Hornung allowed football to usher him to hallowed grounds -- to Notre Dame, where Knute Rockne, George Gipp, John Lujack and John Lattner once dressed in well-worn spikes, and later to Green Bay where Vince Lombardi became a legend.
Never has anybody, other than Hornung in 1956, won the Heisman Trophy on a losing team. The Fighting Irish finished 2-8 in 1956 and Hornung, moved from fullback as a sophomore to quarterback in 1955 and in 1956. He beat out two sensational players for the award: Tennessee's Johnny Majors who finished No. 2 in the voting, and Oklahoma's Tommy McDonald, who was No. 3.
Unthinkable is a good word to use when wondering if anybody will ever win the Heisman on a losing team again. And this is hard to believe: Hornung was a 1955 consensus All-American quarterback and, oddly enough in 1956, he was not. Notre Dame has had seven Heisman Trophy winners, but in a span of 15 years (from 1949 through 1964) they had four winners -- Leon Hart (1949), Lattner (1953), Hornung (1956) and John Huarte (1964). Angelo Bertelli (1943) was Notre Dame's first Heisman winner, Lujack (1947) its second and Tim Brown (1987) the most recent.
Hornung is the easiest Heisman trivia answer, the fifth Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner -- the only Heisman Trophy winner on a losing team.
"I was going through a hellacious season, broke two thumbs on the way, but I played in every game and I wasn't thinking about winning the Heisman Trophy -- but that's the way it turned out," Hornung said Friday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. "Back then, if you had a high rating as a junior -- and I was fifth -- you were kind of like the favorite going into your senior year. There was never much hype."
Hornung, who lives in Louisville, had the Louisville Bats e-mail Durham Bulls GM Mike Birling to get him tickets for Friday's night game with Norfolk Tides. The Bulls figured it'd be nice to have Hornung in the house, up in a private box. Hornung will be in Durham for a month. Doctors at Duke want him to lose 40 pounds before taking care of an ailing right hip. Plans are in the works for Hornung to speak at the 2006 Heisman Trophy presentation. It will be the 50th anniversary of his winning the honor.
"I've invited Majors to be my guest," Hornung said. "We've become good friends. In fact, he was my guest at the Kentucky Derby two years ago. I still believe that 1956 year was the best ever in the Heisman. Jim Brown finished fifth. John Brodie, Len Dawson were among the Top 10. And Jim Parker always told me I stole his Heisman. Seven of the Top 10 are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was the deepest year."
Will anybody ever win it again on a losing team? "Well, somebody like Bo Jackson could come along, but that's a real rarity," Hornung said. "This vote is ridiculously early. I've been trying to get the Heisman to have the dinner in January. We should have the vote after January -- after the last bowl game."
They called Horning "The Goldebn Boy." He carried 94 times his senior year at Notre Dame for 420 yards (4.5 avg.) and he completed just 59 of 111 passes for 917 yards and three touchdowns.
Although these numbers pale ridiculously to those of 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer of USC, who threw for 11,818 yards as a four-year starter at quarterback for the Trojans, it would be unwise to sell Hornung's talents short. "We had to play both ways back then, one-platoon football," Hornung said. "You had to play defense and I loved playing safety." In the 2004 Heisman Trophy program, Hornung is defined as "the jack-of-all-trades -- could run, pass, block and tackle. He was probably the greatest all-around player in Notre Dame's history."
Hornung was a bonus draft pick in 1957 of the Green Bay Packers for whom he played four positions (quarterback, halfback, fullback and tight end). When Lombardi took over the team, he made Hornung the starting left halfback in 1959.
To say Hornung responded to Lombardi's decision to play full time at left halfback is an understatement. Horning, in 1960, scored 15 touchdowns, kicked 41 extra points and 15 field goals in just 12 games. He rushed for 671 yards and threw two touchdown passes on the halfback option. A Lombardi quote in Hornung's Heisman bio goes like this: "the most versatile man who ever played the game."
Hornung led the NFL in scoring three straight years and was named MVP in 1960 and 1961. In 1961 he was in the army but was able to get weekend leave to play on Sunday while missing practice with the Packers. What was practice to Paul Hornung? In 1961 he led the NFL in scoring (146 points) and in the Packers' 37-0 win over the New York Giants in the NFL championship game, Hornung set a record by scoring 19 points.
"Lombardi? The best," Hornung said. "My last hurrah comes out in August, a book called "Lombardi and Me." This one, I'm going to love. We're going to take it up to the Packers fans in Wisconsin. We all would have loved to see Vince live longer. I really believe he would have been the commissioner of the NFL. He was a disciplinarian."
Hornung's two favorite subjects -- Notre Dame and Lombardi -- are easy targets to the Golden Boy. But he believes Notre Dame's current coach, Charlie Weis, is on the right track.
"I did 35 years at Notre Dame, radio and TV," Hornung said. "Charlie's getting the players now. We haven't had a No. 1 pick since [Jerome] Bettis (1993). It's ridiculous. Listen, Weis goes into the homes to visit these kids and he wears those Super Bowl rings. That's impressive. Kids want to go the next level. Who is the best who can get me to pros? Well, Notre Dame has a coach now who can do that."
They lined up to get Hornung's autograph, and some came with footballs and felt-tip pens. What else would you expect for a Heisman Trophy winner from Notre Dame who played in the pros for Lombardi?
By FRANK DASCENZO / The Herald-Sun
DURHAM -- Wise men claim that "forever is a long time," and they often warn "never say never," but Paul Hornung can say both, and do so with impact. Born Dec. 23, 1935 in Louisville, Ky., Hornung allowed football to usher him to hallowed grounds -- to Notre Dame, where Knute Rockne, George Gipp, John Lujack and John Lattner once dressed in well-worn spikes, and later to Green Bay where Vince Lombardi became a legend.
Never has anybody, other than Hornung in 1956, won the Heisman Trophy on a losing team. The Fighting Irish finished 2-8 in 1956 and Hornung, moved from fullback as a sophomore to quarterback in 1955 and in 1956. He beat out two sensational players for the award: Tennessee's Johnny Majors who finished No. 2 in the voting, and Oklahoma's Tommy McDonald, who was No. 3.
Unthinkable is a good word to use when wondering if anybody will ever win the Heisman on a losing team again. And this is hard to believe: Hornung was a 1955 consensus All-American quarterback and, oddly enough in 1956, he was not. Notre Dame has had seven Heisman Trophy winners, but in a span of 15 years (from 1949 through 1964) they had four winners -- Leon Hart (1949), Lattner (1953), Hornung (1956) and John Huarte (1964). Angelo Bertelli (1943) was Notre Dame's first Heisman winner, Lujack (1947) its second and Tim Brown (1987) the most recent.
Hornung is the easiest Heisman trivia answer, the fifth Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner -- the only Heisman Trophy winner on a losing team.
"I was going through a hellacious season, broke two thumbs on the way, but I played in every game and I wasn't thinking about winning the Heisman Trophy -- but that's the way it turned out," Hornung said Friday night at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. "Back then, if you had a high rating as a junior -- and I was fifth -- you were kind of like the favorite going into your senior year. There was never much hype."
Hornung, who lives in Louisville, had the Louisville Bats e-mail Durham Bulls GM Mike Birling to get him tickets for Friday's night game with Norfolk Tides. The Bulls figured it'd be nice to have Hornung in the house, up in a private box. Hornung will be in Durham for a month. Doctors at Duke want him to lose 40 pounds before taking care of an ailing right hip. Plans are in the works for Hornung to speak at the 2006 Heisman Trophy presentation. It will be the 50th anniversary of his winning the honor.
"I've invited Majors to be my guest," Hornung said. "We've become good friends. In fact, he was my guest at the Kentucky Derby two years ago. I still believe that 1956 year was the best ever in the Heisman. Jim Brown finished fifth. John Brodie, Len Dawson were among the Top 10. And Jim Parker always told me I stole his Heisman. Seven of the Top 10 are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was the deepest year."
Will anybody ever win it again on a losing team? "Well, somebody like Bo Jackson could come along, but that's a real rarity," Hornung said. "This vote is ridiculously early. I've been trying to get the Heisman to have the dinner in January. We should have the vote after January -- after the last bowl game."
They called Horning "The Goldebn Boy." He carried 94 times his senior year at Notre Dame for 420 yards (4.5 avg.) and he completed just 59 of 111 passes for 917 yards and three touchdowns.
Although these numbers pale ridiculously to those of 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer of USC, who threw for 11,818 yards as a four-year starter at quarterback for the Trojans, it would be unwise to sell Hornung's talents short. "We had to play both ways back then, one-platoon football," Hornung said. "You had to play defense and I loved playing safety." In the 2004 Heisman Trophy program, Hornung is defined as "the jack-of-all-trades -- could run, pass, block and tackle. He was probably the greatest all-around player in Notre Dame's history."
Hornung was a bonus draft pick in 1957 of the Green Bay Packers for whom he played four positions (quarterback, halfback, fullback and tight end). When Lombardi took over the team, he made Hornung the starting left halfback in 1959.
To say Hornung responded to Lombardi's decision to play full time at left halfback is an understatement. Horning, in 1960, scored 15 touchdowns, kicked 41 extra points and 15 field goals in just 12 games. He rushed for 671 yards and threw two touchdown passes on the halfback option. A Lombardi quote in Hornung's Heisman bio goes like this: "the most versatile man who ever played the game."
Hornung led the NFL in scoring three straight years and was named MVP in 1960 and 1961. In 1961 he was in the army but was able to get weekend leave to play on Sunday while missing practice with the Packers. What was practice to Paul Hornung? In 1961 he led the NFL in scoring (146 points) and in the Packers' 37-0 win over the New York Giants in the NFL championship game, Hornung set a record by scoring 19 points.
"Lombardi? The best," Hornung said. "My last hurrah comes out in August, a book called "Lombardi and Me." This one, I'm going to love. We're going to take it up to the Packers fans in Wisconsin. We all would have loved to see Vince live longer. I really believe he would have been the commissioner of the NFL. He was a disciplinarian."
Hornung's two favorite subjects -- Notre Dame and Lombardi -- are easy targets to the Golden Boy. But he believes Notre Dame's current coach, Charlie Weis, is on the right track.
"I did 35 years at Notre Dame, radio and TV," Hornung said. "Charlie's getting the players now. We haven't had a No. 1 pick since [Jerome] Bettis (1993). It's ridiculous. Listen, Weis goes into the homes to visit these kids and he wears those Super Bowl rings. That's impressive. Kids want to go the next level. Who is the best who can get me to pros? Well, Notre Dame has a coach now who can do that."
They lined up to get Hornung's autograph, and some came with footballs and felt-tip pens. What else would you expect for a Heisman Trophy winner from Notre Dame who played in the pros for Lombardi?