Davey O'Brien

Davey O'Brien ( born June 22, 1917 in Dallas, Texas, † 18 November 1977, in Fort Worth), full name Robert David O'Brien, an American football player who from 1935 to 1938 was in college Football played as a quarterback for the team at Texas Christian University as well as a professional in the years 1939/1940 for the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL. He won in 1938 with the TCU Horned Frogs in the national championship and was honored in the same year as the best college football player with the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award.

Life

Davey O'Brien was born in 1917 in Dallas and completed in his hometown of Woodrow Wilson High School. From 1935 he played in college football field as a quarterback for the team the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University, where he was a substitute for Sammy Baugh initially and from 1937 was part of the starting lineup. 1938 saw the team under his leadership, winning the national championship after an undefeated season including a victory in the Sugar Bowl. Striking for Davey O'Brien was a former offensive play of the TCU Horned Frogs and formative for the playing style of this era exceptionally high number of pass - litters and their precision, which he was nicknamed Slingshot ( " Catapult ").

In the NFL Draft of 1939 he was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles, for whom he in the years 1939 and 1940 in the National Football League ( NFL) played both as a quarterback and as a defensive back and as a punter. He thus became the first Heisman winner who was active in the NFL. After his retirement from professional sport, he was until 1950 for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI ) and then worked for various companies in the oil industry. From 1960 to 1964 he worked as a commentator for television broadcasts of games of the Dallas Cowboys. He died in 1977 in Fort Worth from the effects of long-term cancer.

Awards

Davey O'Brien in 1938 for his performance of the season with the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award as the best college football player awarded and selected from 13 different organizations for the All-American. In 1955 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and a year later to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Named after him, the Davey O'Brien Award, which is awarded annually since 1981 to the best quarterback in college football.