One hundred years later, the Chicago Tribune Silver Football remains one of the highest honors a Big Ten player can receive.
The list of winners includes future Pro Football Hall of Famers and Super Bowl MVPs along with others less remembered in the sport’s annals. But all have individual stories of perseverance and determination that made them into the men they were.
Originally intended for the “player of greatest value to his team” and not necessarily the “greatest player,” the Tribune’s football trophy was “to give the self-effacing chap who labors only for teamwork and team success an opportunity as nearly equal as possible to the ball carrier out in the limelight,” Chicago Daily Tribune sports writer Harvey Woodruff wrote.
“Success of the stars is made possible by the work seldom revealed to the spectators, of men who are blocking opponents and offering interference.”
Here’s what to know about the award — and all of its winners.
Who has won the Silver Football?
The Tribune hoped the annual award, which preceded the Heisman Trophy by 11 years, would “become a much sought honor surpassing any now possible for these hard-working gridiron heroes whose efforts afford pleasure to so many thousand people.”
Meet all the winners.
-
- 1924-39: From Red Grange to Nile Kinnick
- 1940s: From Tom Harmon to Red Wilson
- 1950s: From Vic Janowicz to Bill Burrell
- 1960s: From Tom Brown to Mike Phipps
- 1970s: From Mike Adamle to Tim Clifford
- 1980s: From Mark Herrmann to Anthony Thompson
- 1990s: From Nick Bell to Ron Dayne
- 2000s: From Drew Brees to Brandon Graham
- 2010-23: From Denard Robinson to Marvin Harrison Jr.
Catching up with Jim Grabowski, the 1965 Silver Football winner from Illinois
A quick power runner who bulled his way into the record books, Jim Grabowski entered Illinois out of Taft High School in Chicago in 1962.
Three years later he became the fifth Illini to receive the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten’s best player — and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting — but Grabowski doesn’t look back on his time in Champaign in terms of individual accomplishments.
“I had such great coaches, guys that I developed a real friendship with afterward. In some ways, that’s the most memorable thing for me,” Grabowski, 79, said with a smile. “I had Pete Elliott, one of the greatest gentlemen ever in a sport, and his No. 1 assistant was Bill Taylor, who after all the years after I played, we maintained a good friendship. My backfield coach was Buck McPhail, who was an All-American at Oklahoma and used to give me a lot of crap — just terrific guys.
“That’s the thing I remember most, terrific guys and teammates. I think about all those guys that I played with. Some were truly great players, some were just terrific guys. Some died too early. And so that’s my memories. When you think of playing a team sport, you think of your teammates.” Read more here.
Catching up with Lee Gissendaner, the 1992 Silver Football winner from Northwestern
Lee Gissendaner never really considered a career in scouting during his playing days at Northwestern.
But scouting, he said, found him.
The former Wildcats wide receiver and returner, who won the 1992 Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten’s best player, had a brief pro career in the NFL, Canadian Football League and World League of American Football in Europe.
When injuries mounted and he didn’t find the on-field success he hoped for, he asked himself: “Do I want to keep banging my head against the wall or do I want to find another way to be successful?” Read more here.
Remembering Ken Rouse, the 1927 Silver Football winner from University of Chicago
Looking back nearly 100 years later, Ken Rouse’s selection as the Chicago Tribune Silver Football winner for 1927 might appear to most people to be an unusual choice.
Rouse was a center on a University of Chicago team that went just 4-4. However, the Lindblom High School graduate made quite an impression on the conference’s coaches and players throughout his career with the Maroons.
David E. Sumner, a professor emeritus at Ball State, did extensive research on the U. of C. football program for his biography on Rouse’s coach, “Amos Alonzo Stagg: College Football’s Great Pioneer.” Sumner said Rouse was often praised for his leadership on and off the field. Read more here.
Catching up with Bob Timberlake, the 1964 Silver Football winner from Michigan
Sixty years have passed, but Bob Timberlake still can feel the “cold with a capital ‘C’” that froze the Michigan and Ohio State offenses on Nov. 21, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio.
Nearly 85,000 fans shivered in the stands amid 20-degree temperature and 17 mph wind — though Ohio State coach Woody Hayes refused to acknowledge the cold, wearing short sleeves on the sideline, according to a Tribune article the next day. The weather kept both teams from moving the ball well, until the Wolverines received the break they needed.
Timberlake, 80, recalled how the wind carried a second-quarter punt, throwing off Ohio State returner Bo Rein, who fumbled the catch. Michigan’s John Henderson recovered at the Ohio State 20-yard line, and Timberlake — the Wolverines’ All-America dual-threat quarterback — took over from there.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Timberlake spun to his left and then sprinted with powerful, long strides for a 3-yard gain on the following play. On the next, he hit Jim Detwiler over the middle for a 17-yard touchdown. Timberlake, also the Wolverines kicker, made the extra point and a 27-yard field goal later, cementing Michigan’s 10-0 win, a trip to the Rose Bowl and Timberlake’s first victory over Ohio State in his career.
A Tribune photo the next day of Timberlake with a rose in his mouth and his arms spread wide in celebration had this caption: “Michigan’s Bob Timberlake has joy in heart, rose in teeth.”
Much has happened in Timberlake’s life in the six decades since that day, which was part of the campaign that earned him the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten’s best player. Read more here.
Catching up with Braxton Miller, the 2012 and 2013 Silver Football winner from Ohio State
In its 100-year history, only five players have been awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football in back-to-back seasons: Minnesota’s Paul Giel (1952-53), Ohio State’s Archie Griffin (1973-74), Indiana’s Anthony Thompson (1988-89), Ohio State’s Braxton Miller (2012-13) and Penn State’s Saquon Barkley (2016-17).
For Miller, the 2012 season coincided with a seismic change in the Buckeyes program.
“That’s when Coach (Urban) Meyer and his whole Florida style came in and took over the coaching,” Miller told the Tribune. “Coach (Jim) Tressel had been dismissed and Coach Meyer came in with a sharp mindset. He laid his hands on the team and made us winners early on and believers in what he built in Florida. He pretty much changed the culture.
“He changed how we presented ourselves as young men throughout the facility, and I think it hit home for a lot of leaders, including myself. From that year on it was a battle, but we made it happen. We went 12-0 and never looked back.” Read more here.
