PRINTER'S NO. 2430
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
478
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY RAPP, BERNSTINE, BOBACK, BURNS, CALTAGIRONE,
CONKLIN, SCHLEGEL CULVER, DiGIROLAMO, KAUFFMAN, KINSEY,
KNOWLES, KORTZ, MILLARD, MOUL, MURT, NEILSON, PICKETT, PYLE,
ROTHMAN, RYAN, SONNEY, STAATS AND WILLIAMS,
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TOURISM AND RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT,
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
A RESOLUTION
Honoring John William Heisman, the namesake of the Heisman
Trophy, on the occasion of his 150th birthday.
WHEREAS, John William Heisman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on
October 23, 1869, and raised near Titusville, Crawford County;
and
WHEREAS, After graduating from Titusville High School in
1887, John Heisman enrolled at Brown University; and
WHEREAS, John Heisman was awarded a law degree from the
University of Pennsylvania and, following an eye injury,
accepted a football coaching position at Oberlin College in
Ohio; and
WHEREAS, After the deaths of 21 American college football
players in 1904 from injuries sustained on the field, Heisman
became a strong proponent of instituting rules to increase the
safety of players and advocating improvements to equipment and
gear; and
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WHEREAS, In 1906, Heisman was able to secure major rule
changes as a proponent of the legalization of the forward pass,
the originator of the "hike" or "hut" shouted by the quarterback
to start each play, the center snap, the hidden ball play, the
double play, dividing games into quarters and the statistical
scoreboard; and
WHEREAS, As a college football coach, Heisman compiled a 186-
70-18 record over 26 years and won a national championship with
Georgia Tech in 1917; and
WHEREAS, In 1922, Heisman's "Principles of Football"
presented 175 basic axioms of football, which included player
behavior, dietary restrictions, roles of the coach and strategic
formations and plays; and
WHEREAS, Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in
1954, Heisman coached for 35 years at 8 colleges, including the
University of Pennsylvania and Washington & Jefferson College in
Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, In 1927, Heisman became the athletics director of
the former Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan, New York, and
assisted in the establishment of the Downtown Athletic Club
serving as its first president; and
WHEREAS, Heisman also founded the Touchdown Club of New York
and the National Football Coaches Association; and
WHEREAS, In 1935, the Downtown Athletic Club began awarding a
Downtown Athletic Club Trophy; and
WHEREAS, Heisman died on October 3, 1936, and the Downtown
Athletic Club Trophy was renamed the Heisman Memorial Trophy on
October 19, 1936, and given to the player voted as the season's
best nationwide collegiate player; and
WHEREAS, The Heisman Memorial Trophy has been won by many
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football greats, including Pennsylvanians John Cappelletti of
The Pennsylvania State University and Tony Dorsett of the
University of Pittsburgh; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor John
William Heisman, the namesake of the Heisman Trophy, on the
occasion of his 150th birthday.
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