HEISMAN, JOHN (WILLIAM)

born Oct. 23, 1869, Cleveland died Oct. 3, 1936, New York City U.S. collegiate football coach for 36 years and one of the greatest innovators of the game. He was responsible for legalizing the forward pass in 1906, and he originated the centre snap and the "hike," or "hep," count signals of the quarterback in starting play. He was also the first coach to use the hidden ball play (later outlawed), the quarterback as safety on defense, the double pass, use of interference on end runs, the spin buck, and the Heisman shift. He also promoted the division of game halves into quarters. Heisman played tackle for Brown University (Providence, R.I.; 1887-89) and centre, tackle, and end for the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia; 1890-91). He coached at Oberlin (Ohio) College (1892, 1894), at Auburn (Ala.) University (1895-99), at Clemson (S.C.) University (1900-03), at Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta; 1904-19), Washington and Jefferson College (Washington, Pa.; 1923), and Rice University (Houston, Texas; 1924-27). During his career teams coached by him won 185 games, lost 68, and tied 18. During the off-season, Heisman was a Shakespearean actor, and he used polysyllabic language in coaching: the football was a "prolate spheroid." The Downtown Athletic Club of New York City, of which he was director when he died, posthumously named its trophy given annually to the best collegiate player each season the Heisman Trophy.