John Heisman Biography of a Football...

Born October 23, 1869 in Cleveland, Ohio - John Heisman, American football coach who was one of the top innovators for the game of football in history. Heisman is credited per the NFF’s website with helping to legalize the forward pass, originated the center snap, innovated the “hike” cadence to initiate a snap and for which the Heisman Trophy is named. John coached at various schools including Oberlin, Akron, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Penn, Washington and Jefferson, Auburn and Rice. He played every line position while he was a student athlete at Brown University. The National Football Foundation selected John Heisman to enter into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. Of course the award given to the most recognozed top player in College Football each year is given at trophy that bears his name, the Heisman Trophy. That is how significant he was to the game.