This 5'7" 150-pounder sparked Texas Christian to an undefeated season his senior year. In his last season, he threw 194 passes, completed 110 for 1,733 yards and 19 touchdowns. One of the gridiron greats, he holds the all-time college record for most rushing and passing plays in one season - 400. A good runner and punter, he was an outstanding selector of plays. He was the first Heisman winner to emerge from the Southwest Conference. After a brilliant 15-7 Sugar Bowl victory in 1939 over Carnegie Tech in which O'Brien kicked a field goal and threw a touchdown pass, the Philadelphia Eagles beckoned with a $12,000 bonus and a two-year contract. In his first season he passed for 1,324 yards, breaking Sammy Baugh's record; in his second, he completed 33 of 60 passes against the Redskins-still a record. Davey retired to become an FBI agent. In the early '50s he became a business executive. He died on November 18th, 1977.

Davey was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1955.

The Voting

Place	Name	School	Class	Position	Points
1	Davey O'Brien	Texas Christian	Senior	QB	519
2	Marshall Goldberg	Pittsburg	Senior	RB	294
3	Sid Luckman	Columbia	Senior	QB	154
4	Bob MacLeod	Dartmouth	Senior	HB	78
5	Vic Bottari	California	Senior	RB	67
6	Howard Weiss	Wisconsin	Senior	FB	60
7	George Cafego	Tennessee	Junior	TB	55
8	Ki Aldrich	Texas Christian	Senior	C	48
9	Whitey Beinor	Notre Dame	Senior	T	47
10	Dean Hill	Duke	Senior	C	38

The tiny O'Brien, who is the smallest player ever to win the Heisman, won in the East, South, Midwest and Southwest, losing in the Far West to California's Bottari. By 1938, the total vote was 584 as more members of the media were asked to participate. Overall, O'Brien received 90 percent of the vote on a 3-2-1 basis.

No. of registered electors: 584
Date of announcement: November 28, 1938
Date of dinner: December 6, 1938

The positions within each region:

Place	East	South	Midwest	Southwest	Far West
1	O'Brien	O'Brien	O'Brien	O'Brien	Bottari
2	Luckman	Goldberg	Goldberg	Aldrich	O'Brien
3	Goldberg	Cafego	Weiss	Goldberg	Goldberg