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Nile Kinnick's 1st game as starter....
Nile Kinnick's 1st game as starter....
Item # 588966
September 26, 1937
THE NEW YORK TIMES, September 26, 1937
* Nile Kinnick 1st game as starter
* 1st mention of him in the NYT
* Iowa Hawkeyes - college football
This 80+ page Sunday newspaper has one column headings on page 4 of the sport's section (inside): "WASHINGTON BEATS IOWA WITH PASSES", "Opening Contest of Season at Seattle Packed With Thrills All The Way" and more with lineups. This was the first mention of Nile Kinnick in the famous New York Times publication. It was also his first game as a starter for the Iowa Hawkeyes. See photos for mention of him along with his name on the roster.
Other news, sports and advertisements of the day throughout. Rag edition in great condition.
wikipedia notes: Kinnick had always been an excellent student as well as an athletic leader, and he could have graduated in 1935, but his parents held him back a year to become thoroughly prepared for the university. He considered the University of Minnesota - how seriously is not clear - but he chose the University of Iowa. The struggles of the Iowa Hawkeyes football team might have attracted him. Verle Davis, Kinnick's football coach at Adel, recalled that "Kinnick was determined to go to some school that was down... He didn't want to go to Minnesota, because they were on top... He finally went to Iowa as he figured they were at their lowest ebb." The account is persuasive, because it was typical of Kinnick. To start from nothing and test himself against his own weakness as well as outside resistance were challenges Kinnick always pursued if they were available.
He was recruited to Iowa by Coach Ossie Solem in 1936. Kinnick was named the co-captain of the freshman team. He also played baseball and basketball his freshman year.
After the 1936 season, Solem left Iowa to go to Syracuse University, and the Univ. of Iowa hired Irl Tubbs to replace him. As a sophomore, Kinnick was terrific, but the Hawkeyes just could not win. Iowa battled the University of Washington, the eventual Pacific Coast Conference champions, to the wire in a 14-0 defeat and then scored an early victory over Bradley University. It was Iowa's only win of the year. But opponents raved about Kinnick. After scoring Iowa's only touchdown in a 13-6 loss to Wisconsin, Solem wrote sports editor Sec Taylor from Syracuse, "I was sure that Kinnick was destined to be the greatest back in all Iowa history, and I am more convinced than ever that he will be."
Category: The 20th Century
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