David Robinson honored as 2013 Heisman Humanitarian Winner
It’s Olympic Day. Here Are The Heisman Connections To The Games
Today, June 23, is Olympic Day and at first glance, you may ask what that has to do with the Heisman Trophy.
And then you may ask, why June 23? Did National Donut Day, National Daughter Day, National Cat Day and days honoring sunglasses, popcorn and everything else limit the options?
Well, no. The founding of the International Olympic Committee at the Sorbonne in Paris took place on June 23, 1894. Fifty four years later, in 1948, Olympic Day was born to honor its founding.
Somewhere along the line, June 23 also became National Typewriter Day, commemorating the granting of the patent for the communication-shifting new invention on the same day in 1868.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a Heisman connection to typewriters, short of all of the clickety-clack machines used by sportswriters to chronicle our winners in the earlier years of the trophy. Close enough.
The Heisman connection to the Olympics is much stronger when you consider the Heisman Trust’s charitable mission to support and fund youth development programs in underserved communities throughout the country.
Complementing the hundreds of organizations the Trust has supported is the Heisman Humanitarian program, which for two decades has annually honored an athlete who provides opportunities for the community at large.
The first Heisman Humanitarian was Olympic gold medalist speed skater and philanthropist Joey Cheek, who received the initial Heisman honor in 2006.
Cheek joined the Heisman Trophy Podcast earlier this year. You can listen to the interview below.
Pat LoFontaine was the next Humanitarian (2008) with an Olympic resume. The NHL Hall of Famer represented the U.S. in hockey at the 1984 and 1998 Olympics. He was the youngest player on the 1984 squad and led Team USA with 10 points.
Mia Hamm was the 2009 Heisman Humanitarian. Arguably the greatest American women’s soccer player ever, Hamm led Team USA to a pair of Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004 and a silver in 2000.
David Robinson (2013) was the first American men’s player to represent USA basketball three times. He won a bronze as an amateur in 1988 and was part of the first-ever “Dream Team” in 1992, the American Olympic basketball squad that dominated the field en route to gold. He ran it back for Team USA in 1996 for a second gold.
Joe Torre, the ninth Humanitarian, wasn’t an Olympian, but he did carry the Olympic flame in 2005 in Florence, Italy, as part of the torch relay ahead of the 2006 Olympics in Turin.
The Heisman Humanitarian turned to another Olympic great in 2019, honoring Kristi Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was a fellow 1992 Olympian, winning gold in figure skating, becoming the first Asian American to win Winter Olympic gold.
Mike Krzyzewski was our 2022 winner. He led the Team USA men’s basketball team to three straight gold medals in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
The Heisman Fraternity does boast an Olympian of its own in Herschel Walker, who took up bobsled during his professional football career and earned a spot on the 1992 U.S. Olympic bobsled squad. He competed as a brakeman on the American two-man team and finished seventh in the 46-team field. He and driver Brian Shimer missed the podium by a third of a second.
Check out this throwback clip of him here.
