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80 years ago today a great American and Iowan won the Heisman Trophy

His acceptance speech is a radio soliloquy with overtones of Saving Private Ryan -- an American grateful we weren't at war, but when War came, he was willing to sacrifice everything in the effort to win a better future for the world. A member of, "The greatest generation", truly.
 
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Raised in Omaha and 2 HS football stadiums are named after him, one of them is where he graduated HS. Benson HS
 
“Kinnick was born in Adel, Iowa, on July 9, 1918, the oldest child in a farming family of three sons. Although they were far from wealthy, the Kinnicks did have a certain station in the community because Nile's maternal grandfather, George W. Clarke, had been governor of the state from 1913 to 1917. Nile Sr. had been a scholar-athlete at high school in Adel and at Iowa State, where he was celebrated for drop-kicking two field goals once against Missouri. "The trouble is," the elder Kinnick recalls, "while I was kicking field goals, they were scoring touchdowns."

‘From the SI article above, the article also mentions the time spent in Omaha after Kinnick SR moved the family to find work. Clearly the family has deep deep Iowa roots.
 
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