Johnny Lujack, a Star Quarterback at Notre Dame, Dies at 98
Johnny Lujack, the celebrated Notre Dame quarterback who won the 1947 Heisman Trophy, played on three national championship teams and then starred in the N.F.L. for the Chicago Bears, died on Tuesday at a hospice facility in Naples, Fla. He was 98.
His death was confirmed by his grandson Grant Pohlmann.
When the 1947 college football season began, Lujack was on the cover of Life magazine, kneeling in his green jersey, gold helmet and pants. He was the most publicized Notre Dame player since the 1920s, when Knute Rockne, the Gipper and the Four Horsemen transformed a small Roman Catholic university in the obscure city of South Bend, Ind., into a trademark of popular culture.
Lujack was an outstanding passer and a fine runner at quarterback, as well as a brilliant defensive halfback, a place-kicker and occasionally a punter. He was a two-time all-American and played in only one losing football game at Notre Dame. He also played baseball and basketball and ran track.
He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960 and had been the oldest living winner of the Heisman, the prize awarded annually to college football’s leading player.
Source: The New York Times
