The handsome Minnesota halfback, who received his Heisman Trophy two days after Pearl Harbor, was voted the best college player in the All-Star game that year at Chicago. The spearhead of two of Bernie Bierman's greatest teams, he captained the Gophers to undefeated National Championships in 1940 and '41. Although well over 200 pounds, he was one of the Big 10 Conference's fastest men. Bruce passed away on 28 August 1967 after a long illness.

Bruce was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1972.

The Voting

Place	Name	School	Class	Position	Points
1	Bruce Smith	Minnesota	Senior	HB	554
2	Angelo Bertelli	Notre Dame	Sophomore	QB	345
3	Frankie Albert	Stanford	Senior	QB	336
4	Frank Sinkwich	Georgia	Junior	HB	249
5	Bill Dudley	Virginia	Senior	HB	237
6	Endicott Peabody	Harvard	Senior	G	153
7	Edgar Jones	Pittsburgh	Senior	RB	151
8	Bob Westfall	Michigan	Senior	FB	147
9	Steve Lach	Duke	Senior	HB	126
10	Jack Crain	Texas	Senior	RB	102

Smith won only two sections, the East and the Midwest. Dudley won in the South. Moser of Texas A&M in the Southwest and Albert in the Far West. Peabody, who played end, received tremendous support for a lineman. He later received enough support in the state of Massachusetts to be elected governor. Smith's acceptance of the Heisman Trophy had some anxious moments on 9 December 1941, when a squadron of American Army planes was mistaken for German bombers and an air raid alert was signaled along the East Coast as Bruce stepped forward to accept his Heisman two days after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

No. of registered electors: Unavailable
Date of announcement: November 28, 1941
Date of dinner: December 9, 1941

The positions within each region for the top five candidates:

Place	East	South	Midwest	Southwest	Far West
1	Smith	Dudley	Smith	*Moser	Albert
2	Peabody	Sinkwich	Albert	Bertelli	Smith
3	Bertelli	Lach	Bertelli	Smith	Bertelli
4	Dudley	Smith	Westfall	Crain	**Sewell
5	Sinkwich	***Nelson	****Hillenbrand	*****Layden	Crain

* Moser of Texas A&M
** Sewell of Washington State
*** Nelson of Alabama
**** Hillenbrand of Indiana
***** Layden of Texas