Iowa Football: The Story of Kinnick Stadium’s Namesake
If you are a fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes, you certainly know all about Kinnick Stadium. But do you know about the person the stadium is named after? Who was Nile Kinnick and what made him so famous?
Playing games in Kinnick Stadium is a thing of beauty. Not only is it a great place to play with great fans all around but the stadium itself has a lot of meaning. But who is the person behind the name Kinnick? Who is the former Hawk the place the Iowa Hawkeyes play their game at named after?
Let’s find out as we look at the life of Nile Kinnick, an Iowa Hawkeye great.
Nike Clarke Kinnick Jr. came into this world on July 9th, 1918 in Adel, Iowa. Adel is just west of Des Moines a few miles. Kinnick was the oldest son in his family of five and was the grandson of George Clark who was the Governor of Iowa in the early 1900’s.
Kinnick was a fine athlete when he was younger starting out playing baseball. At his high school in Adel, Kinnick helped to lead his football team win every game in a season. He was a very successful basketball player at Adel High School.
His family moved out of the state of Iowa and went to Nebraska before his senior year in high school, but this didn’t stop Kinnick from continuing to play sports. He was selected as a first-team All-State honoree in Nebraska in basketball and football. He was also a key part of Benson High School’s baseball program.
With a year off for extra preparation, Kinnick decided to attend the University of Iowa to attend learn and play football. The coach of the Hawkeyes at the time, Ossie Solem, heavily recruited Nile.
Iowa Hawkeyes Football
Kinnick was named a co-captain of the Iowa freshman team in 1936 and was also a basketball and baseball player. The Hawks got a new coach in 1937, Irl Tubbs and his first season was a tough one as Iowa had just one win that year. While the team wasn’t that great on the field, they did have one outstanding player that year. That was Kinnick. He was easily destined for greater things.
The 1937 season saw Kinnick be named a third-team All-American, a first-team All-Big Ten selection and the nation’s leader in punting.
Being a multi-sport athlete helped Kinnick gain further notoriety. In basketball, Kinnick was the second highest scorer on the team. He even played baseball but that may have been too much for him, and he didn’t pursue the sport, in college, any longer.
Just before the start of his junior year in football, he hurt his ankle and didn’t look like he was quite “right” for that season. Despite this, Kinnick was named an honorable mention all-Big-Ten player in his junior year.
After the 1938 season, Tubbs was let go and Eddie Anderson was named the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes. This helped pave the way for what would be a spectacular season by Kinnick and the Hawks.
The 1939 Iowa Hawkeyes team, or the “Ironmen” as they would be better known as ended the year with a 6-1-1 record and were ranked number nine in the Associated Press poll. Nile Kinnick was the clear leader on that on that team both in terms of providing leadership and statistically. Of the 19 touchdowns that the Hawkeyes scored, Kinnick was a part of 16 of them. Of the 420 minutes that were played that year, he missed just 18 of those minutes.
During that year, Kinnick set several school records, 14 in all and some of those records still stand today. Also, he was given many honors and accolades because of his performance in 1939. Those honors included being named the Big Ten MVP, a First Team All-American, the Walter Camp and Maxwell Award winner and the Associated Male Athlete of the Year. But there would be one honor that Kinnick would gain that would be the ultimate college football honor.
Of course, we are talking about the Heisman Trophy. Kinnick won the honor and was the first and only Iowa Hawkeye player to win it. Kinnick may have been more famous for what he said during his Heisman acceptance speech than winning the Heisman itself.
According to Hawkeye Nation, Kinnick said in his speech:
"“From my own personal viewpoint, I consider my winning this award as indirectly a great tribute to the new coaching staff at the University of Iowa, headed by Dr. Eddie Anderson and to my teammates sitting back in Iowa City. A finer man and a better coach never hit these United States, and a fine bunch of boys and more courageous bunch of boys never graced the gridirons of the Midwest that Iowa team in 1939. I wish that they might all be with me tonight to receive this trophy. They certainly deserve it.”"
And there was one more quote from his Heisman speech worth mentioning here from Hawkeye Nation:
"“Finally, if you will permit me, I’d like to make a comment which in my mind, is indicative, perhaps, of the greater significance of football and sports emphasis in general in this country, and that is, I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest and the battlefields of Europe. I can speak confidently and positively that the players of this country would much more, much rather struggle and fight to win the Heisman award then the Croix de Guerre.”"
Kinnick was just as good of a student as he was an athlete. He had a 3.4-grade point average while he was at Iowa and had several academic honors. He was even allowed the honor of giving the commencement address for the 1940 graduating class.
Professional football was waiting for the young star, but he turned away from that. Kinnick decided to try to law school at the University of Iowa and even thought of getting into politics.
He did get into coaching at his alma mater as well.
There was a larger calling for Kinnick and that was the military. He entered the Naval Air Reserve to train to be a pilot. He departed with the crew of aircraft carrier the USS Lexington and ended up off the coast of South America. On June 2, 1943, the aircraft carrier was doing some training exercises in and Kinnick was out over the ocean when his plane, a Grumman F4F Wildcat started to leak oil. He would have to ditch his plane in the water.
Kinnick landed his plane in the water but was killed during the landing. His body was never found despite the fact rescue boats got there shortly after he crashed.
The memories of Kinnick still live on strongly today. He is part of every Big Ten game as the coin that decides who gets the ball first, at the coin flip, has an image of him on it. There is a scholarship fund at the University of Iowa in his name and the school has retired his number 24. Kinnick is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as he was part of its inaugural class.
Of course, the stadium where the Iowa Hawkeye football team plays its games is named in his honor. The stadium was renamed to honor Kinnick back in 1972 and is the only stadium to be named after a Heisman Trophy winner. There is a statue of Kinnick outside of the stadium that depicts him as a student and not an athlete. He is wearing a letter jacket.
The legacy of Nile Kinnick lives on through every game that is played at Kinnick Stadium. The fans know who Kinnick is and know his legacy. And his legacy is a great one.
If you are an Iowa fan and you are not aware of who Kinnick was read up on him. You will want to know why he was the greatest Hawkeye of all time. You will want to know why the school, it’s athletes and Iowa fans everywhere have considered him the best Hawkeye football player ever.
In addition to his being an Iowa legend, he should be a hero to all for the sacrifice he made for his country.