On December 9 1943 1943 Heisman winner Angelo Bertelli
Midway through a wartime 1943 season in which Notre Dame quarterback Angelo Bertelli had proven himself one of the best T-formation quarterbacks in the country, he got called to report for service at Parris Island, S.C. So much for the hope that the Fighting Irish would have their first Heisman winner. On the final Saturday of the season, Bertelli listened in tears as Great Lakes Naval Training Station scored in the final minute to defeat the Fighting Irish, 19-14. “We were listening in a hut at Parris Island,” Bertelli told author Steve Delsohn for his 1998 book, “Talking Irish.” “There were five or six Notre Damers sitting around this Philco radio. We thought Notre Dame won. Then Great Lakes scores and we’re crying. We’re actually crying. Then a guy walks up to me as I leave the hut. He hands me a telegram. It says I just won the Heisman Trophy. I didn’t know whether to laugh or keep crying.” In his later years, as his health began to fail, Bertelli would call himself “blessed” for winning the Heisman. Notre Dame would be blessed as well. Bertelli’s Heisman Trophy became the first of six won by Fighting Irish players in the next 21 years. In that era, Notre Dame players appeared to start the Heisman race a furlong ahead of the rest of the nation. However, in the 45 years since John Huarte won the Heisman, there has been only one more winner: wide receiver Tim Brown, in 1987.
— Ivan Maisel
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