Nile Kinnick
US Navy WWII
All American
Nile Clarke Kinnick, Jr., was the son of Nile Clark Kinnick, Sr., and Francis Clarke. He had two younger brothers, Ben and George. His maternal grandfather, George W. Clarke, graduated from the University of Iowa in 1878 and served two two-year terms as the Governor of Iowa from 1912 to 1916. Kinnick began showing athletic aptitude at a young age as well. As a youth, he played on a Junior Legion baseball team with the future major leaguer Bob Feller. As a sophomore at Adel High School, Kinnick led the football team to an undefeated season, and then he scored 485 points for the basketball team, leading them to the district finals.
Kinnick had always been an excellent student as well as an athletic leader, and he could have graduated in 1935, but his parents held him back a year to become thoroughly prepared for the university. Before the 1939 season, Kinnick wrote, "For three years, nay for fifteen years, I have been preparing for this last year of football. I anticipate becoming the roughest, toughest all-around back yet to hit this conference." He also wrote, "I'm looking forward to showing Anderson what a real football player looks like - so hold your hats." On November 28, 1939, Nile Kinnick won the Heisman Trophy becoming the only Iowa Hawkeye to win college football's most prestigious award
On June 2, 1943, Kinnick was on a routine training flight from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) which was off the coast of Venezuela in the Gulf of Paria. Kinnick had been flying for over an hour when his F4 Wildcat developed an oil leak so serious that he could neither reach land nor the Lexington, whose flight deck was in any case crowded with planes preparing for launch. Kinnick followed standard military procedure and executed an emergency landing in the water, but died in the process. Rescue boats arrived on the scene a mere eight minutes later, but they found only an oil slick. His body was never recovered. Nile Kinnick was the first Heisman Trophy winner to die; he was a month and seven days away from his 25th birthday. Ben Kinnick, Niles brother also lost his life in WWII.
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