Dick Kazmaier

Richard William Kazmaier Jr. (November 23, 1930 – August 1, 2013) was an American businessman and naval lieutenant. He played college football as a halfback for the Princeton Tigers from 1949 through 1951 and was the winner of the 1951 Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the AP Male Athlete of the Year.

Early life and career

Kazmaier was born November 23, 1930, in Toledo, Ohio, the only child of Richard William Kazmaier Sr. (1903–1989) and Marian A. Kazmaier (née Greenlese; 1903–1957). He graduated from Maumee High School in Ohio in 1948. He played football (four years), basketball (four years), track and field (four years), baseball (four years) and golf (one year) earning a letter each year in each sport. He was recruited by 23 colleges, most offering full scholarships.

A halfback, kicker, and quarterback at Princeton University, Kazmaier ended his career third all-time in Tigers' history with over 4,000 yards of offense and 55 touchdowns.

As a senior in 1951, Kazmaier was a consensus All-American and won the Maxwell Award and the Heisman Trophy. He was named Ivy League Football Player of the Decade in 1960 and ''Time'' magazine ran his picture on its cover. He was the last Heisman Trophy winner to play for an Ivy League institution. Kazmaier graduated from Princeton in 1952 after completing a senior thesis titled "The Company and the Union: A Case Study". The Chicago Bears selected him in the 1952 NFL draft, but he declined to play pro football, instead going to Harvard Business School. After spending three years in the U.S. Navy (1955–1957) and attaining the rank of lieutenant, he founded Kazmaier Associated Inc, an investment firm in Concord, Massachusetts.

Later life

Kazmaier served as a director of the American Red Cross, director of the Ladies Professional Golfers Association, trustee of Princeton University, director of the Knight Foundation on Intercollegiate Athletics, chairman of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and president of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. The NCAA gave him its Silver Anniversary Award. He also received the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award.

In 2007, during a Maumee football game against Perrysburg, Kazmaier was honored by having his jersey number (#42) retired. He also donated his Heisman Trophy to Maumee High School, where it is displayed inside a glass case in the main hallway. The stadium at Maumee High School is named in his honor. His daughter, the late Patty Kazmaier-Sandt, was an All-Ivy member of the Princeton women's ice hockey team who died in 1990 at the age of 28 from a rare blood disease. The Patty Kazmaier Award, which was established by Kazmaier to memorialize his daughter, is given to the top woman college ice hockey player in the United States at the annual Women's Frozen Four NCAA championship.

Personal

Kazmaier died on August 1, 2013, in Boston from heart and lung disease at the age of 82.

Honors

*1950–1951: All-American in football
*1951: Heisman Trophy winner
*1951: Maxwell Award winner
*1951: Named outstanding college football player by the ''Los Angeles Times'', the '' Detroit Times'', and the Cleveland Touchdown Club
*1951: Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year
*1951: Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Athlete of the Year
*1960: Ivy League Football Player of the Decade
*1962: Voted to the Greater Toledo Athletic Hall of Fame
*1969: ''Sports Illustrated''s 1950s All Decade Team
*1989: Walter Camp Distinguished American Award recipient
*1993: National Football Foundation's Distinguished American Award in 1993
*1998: Maumee High School renamed its football stadium in his honor.
*2007: Jersey number (#21) officially retired at Maumee High School in Kazmaier's honor.
*2008: Jersey number (#42) officially retired at Princeton University in Kazmaier's (and Bill Bradley's) honor. Bradley had grown up as a fan of Kazmaier and chose the number 42 in his honor.Tomlinson, Brett
"A number like no other; Princeton retires No. 42 in honor of Kazmaier ’52 and Bradley ’65"
'' Princeton Alumni Weekly'', November 19, 2008. Accessed September 13, 2021. "As children playing football on a churchyard in Crystal City, Mo., Bill Bradley ’65 and his friends took turns emulating collegiate gridiron stars. Bradley, for a Midwestern boy, had a curious favorite. 'Other kids wanted to be "Hopalong" Cassady of Ohio State,' he recalled. 'I wanted to be Dick Kazmaier 52of Princeton.' ... The two stars shared a common uniform number — 42 — worn, in the words of Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67, 'with uncommon distinction.'"

See also

* List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
* List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazmaier, Dick
1930 births
2013 deaths
American business executives
American football halfbacks
American football placekickers
American football quarterbacks
American men's basketball players
American Red Cross personnel
All-American college football players
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Heisman Trophy winners
Maxwell Award winners
Princeton Tigers football players
Princeton Tigers men's basketball players
Harvard Business School alumni
People from Maumee, Ohio
Players of American football from Toledo, Ohio
Basketball players from Ohio
20th-century American sportsmen