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John Heisman

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Football Coach

The Resume

    (October 23, 1869-October 3, 1936)
    Born in Cleveland, Ohio
    Played football at Brown (1887-89) and the University of Pennsylvania (1890-91)
    Coached at Oberlin (1892,1894), Butchel (1893), Auburn (1895-99), Clemson (1900-03), Georgia Tech (1904-19), Pennsylvania (1920-22), Washington & Jefferson (1923) and Rice (1924-27)
    Overall record: 185-70-17
    Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (1954)
    Namesake for the Heisman Trophy awarded annually for the best college player

Why he might be annoying:

    He started a trend by becoming the first college football coach whose salary was larger than any of the professors'.
    In the ultimate example of running up the score, his Georgia Tech team beat Cumberland College 222-0 (October 7, 1916).
    Ironically, he disliked the idea of an award singling out one player in a team game.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He played a key role in legalizing the forward pass, transforming the game.
    He also introduced the first scoreboard, the center snap, the first audible at the line and dividing the game into quarters instead of halves.
    He ran up the score so ludicrously against Cumberland partly to make a point about sports writers who are too obsessed with the final score.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 19 Votes: 42.11% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 19 Votes: 63.16% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 63 Votes: 68.25% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 25 Votes: 40.0% Annoying