The only University of Iowa football player ever to win the Heisman Trophy is not only well-known for his athletic achievements, but for caring and intelligence beyond his years; and his thoughts and observations about politics and life are now part of a new book.
Mark Wilson is the author of “The Way of Nile C. Kinnick, Jr.,” which chronicles the life of the famed Hawkeyes quarterback through his own diaries and other personal writings. Wilson held presentations in Knoxville Wednesday to share the story of the famed alumnus.
Kinnick was well-loved by those around him for his wisdom and his keen interest in helping out the underdog – an attitude which may have carried over into a political career, had he not died in a training accident during World War II.
Wilson tells KNIA/KRLS News Kinnick had strongly-held personal opinions on a number of subjects, and his opposition to American involvement early on in the war even showed up during his Heisman acceptance speech.
“That Heisman speech, he was an isolationist at that time, because he didn’t want troops on the ground overseas. But after Germany invaded Poland, he wanted to support with the troops,” Wilson says. “So when you listen to the first part of that Heisman speech about wanting to be on the gridirons of America instead of on the battlefields in Europe and France, whatever, that’s what he was talking about.”
Iowa’s football stadium was renamed in Kinnick’s honor in 1972, thirty years after his death; 2018 happens to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Wilson’s book is available on line from Ice Cube Publishing.