The only man to ever win Heisman Trophy on a team with a losing record has died as Paul Hornung, a football legend at both Notre Dame and with the Green Bay Packers passed away Friday at the age of 84.
Hornung starred as a three-sport athlete at Flaget High School in Louisville before attending Notre Dame on a football scholarship.
“The Golden Boy” as he was known during his playing days, threw for 12 touchdowns and 1696 yards during his time at Notre Dame. In 1956 his efforts not only at quarterback but on defense and special teams helped him win the Heisman Trophy despite the Irish going just 2-8 on the year. To this day Hornung is the only player to win the award while playing on a losing team.
Hornung would go on to be selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985 and since 2010 The Paul Hornung Award has been given out to “The most versatile player in college football” each season.
Hornung graduated from Notre Dame in 1957 with a degree in business and became the first overall pick in the ’57 NFL Draft as the Green Bay Packers selected him. Along with Vince Lombardi and the Packers dynasty of the sixties, Hornung would win four NFL Championships and twice be selected as a first-team All-Pro in what would end up a Hall of Fame career as he was enshrined in Canton in the 1986 class.
The Louisville Sports Commission announced today that Hall-of-Fame legend Paul Hornung died after a battle with dementia. Hornung was 84.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2020
Hornung was a superstar in the sport but also found his way into various different controversies over the years. He was involved in a betting ring alongside former Detroit Lions star Alex Karras that left the two suspended for the 1963 season.
In a 2004 radio interview Hornung also declared that Notre Dame “can’t stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we’ve got to get the black athletes. We must get the black athletes if we’re going to compete.”
Those comments understandably drew harsh criticism nationwide.
Hornung is survived by his wife of 41 years, Angela.
We’ll have more on this story as it develops but our thoughts are with all of those effected by the loss of a football legend.