Roger Staubach was featured on this 1972 Topps card.
Two very important ingredients of the college football season come together on Saturday as the Heisman Trophy winner will be announced and the annual Army-Navy game will take place in Philadelphia.
There have been five Heisman winners who played in the Army-Navy game with Roger Staubach being the last one to do it in 1963.
Staubach was a junior that year at the Naval Academy when he led the Midshipmen to a No. 2 national ranking. Navy finished 9-2 after falling to No. 1 Texas 28-6 in the Cotton Bowl.
The last Heisman winner from a military academy, Staubach led the Midshipman to a 21-15 win in the 1963 Army-Navy game that was postponed a week due to the assassination of the President of the United States John F. Kennedy. The victory set up the showdown with eventual national champ Texas.
Drafted by the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys (10th round) and the American Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs (16th round) in 1964 before he graduated in 1965, Staubach had to complete his service requirement before playing professional football. The draft rules were different at the time, so Staubach competed as a senior after being drafted. He missed several games due to an injury as Navy fell to 3-6-1.
Staubach’s service commitment included a tour in Vietnam before he joined the Cowboys prior to the 1969 season.
It didn’t take Staubach very long to have an impact in the NFL. Staubach became the starting quarterback for the Cowboys in the middle of the 1971 season. He would go on to lead Dallas to a 24-3 win over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XI.
One of the biggest moments in Staubach’s career occured during the NFL playoffs in 1975. Staubach completed what has become to be known as a Hail Mary Pass to Drew Pearson as the Cowboys beat the Minnesota Vikings 17-14 on the road.
Staubach won his second title as the Cowboys beat Denver 27-10 in Super Bowl XII.
A native of Cincinnati, Staubach was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981. Four years later, the six-time All-Pro went into the professional shrine in Canton.
Other Heisman Winners
Army has had three Heisman winners, while in addition to Staubach, Navy has one other player to receive the award.
Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis won back-to-back Heismans for Army in 1945 and 1946. Pete Dawkins was Army’s last winner in 1958.
Joe Bellino was the first winner for Navy in 1960. The Air Force Academy has never had a winner.
Current Heisman List
This year’s Heisman finalists are of Deshaun Watson of Clemson, Derrick Henry of Alabama and Christian McCaffrey of Stanford.
Like the Air Force, Clemson has never had a winner.
Mark Ingram, Jr. won for the Crimson Tide in 2009, while Jim Plunkett picked up the award in 1970 for Stanford.