Leading the nation's number one team, Rodgers proved himself as one of the most versatile backs in Cornhusker history. Operating as a punt returner, pass receiver, blocker, and runner, he broke offensive records by the dozens. In his three-year career he racked up 5,586 all-purpose yards for an NCAA record. His 72-yard punt return for the first touchdown ignited the Huskers' thrilling 35-31 victory over Oklahoma in the Game of the Century in 1971. The Montreal Alouettes signed Johnny where his quickness and versatility made him a valuable favorite over several seasons. He had a career with the San Diego Chargers in the NFL. Rodgers, one of the nattiest dressers in football, has been a conspicuous contributor to the fun of recent Heisman Dinners.

Johnny was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1999.

The Voting

					Points
Place	Name	School	Class	Pos.	1	2	3	Total
2	Greg Pruitt	Oklahoma	Senior	RB	117	223	169	966
3	Rich Glover	Nebraska	Senior	MG	99	125	105	652
4	Bert Jones	Louisiana State	Senior	QB	61	61	46	351
5	Terry Davis	Alabama	Senior	QB	62	50	52	338
6	John Hufnagel	Penn State	Senior	QB	62	28	50	292
7	George Amundsen	Iowa State	Senior	RB	41	31	34	219
8	Otis Armstrong	Purdue	Senior	RB	44	24	28	208
9	Don Stock	Virginia Tech	Senior	QB	12	33	42	144
10	Gary Huff	Florida State	Senior	QB	20	24	30	138

Johnny Rodgers, the all-around star from Nebraska, made it a clean sweep of all five sections and easily outdistanced his Oklahoma rival, Greg Pruitt. It was a standout year for the Big Eight as Nebraska middle guard Rich Glover gave the conference the three top spots in the balloting.

No. of registered electors: 1,127
Date of announcement: 5 December
Date of dinner: 14 December

The positions within each region:

Place	EAST	SOUTH	MIDWEST	SOUTHWEST	FAR WEST
1	Rodgers	Rodgers	Rodgers	Rodgers	Rodgers
2	Pruitt	Davis	Pruitt	Pruitt	Pruitt
3	Hufnagel	Pruitt	Armstrong	Glover	Glover
4	Glover	Jones	Glover	Jones	Adams
5	Strock	Glover	Amundsen	Davis	Amundsen