Johnny Manziel is a deserving Heisman winner. He’s got a way to go, however, to take the title of most impressive Heisman winner of all time from Pete Dawkins, who won the award in 1958.
- He overcame childhood polio to become a star high school athlete.
- At West Point, he became the only cadet to simultaneously serve as First Captain (the highest ranking cadet), class president, and captain of the football team. He was also assistant captain of the hockey team.
- He won the 1958 Heisman trophy.
- He won a Rhodes Scholarship and graduated Oxford with a masters in philosophy, politics, and economics. He also won three rugby blues and is credited with popularizing the overarm throw.
- After finishing Airborne and Ranger school, he commanded a rifle company in Vietnam and earned two Bronze Stars for Valor.
- He was a principal author of the plan to convert to an all-volunteer Army.
- He was a White House Fellow from 1973-1974.
- He earned a masters in public administration and PhD from Princeton in 1979.
- He became the youngest brigadier general in the US Army in 1981.
- After a sports injury requiring back surgery, he retired from the Army in 1983, stunning those who expected him to rise to Chief of Staff.
- Post-retirement, he went on to become a partner at Lehman Brothers, vice chairman of Bain and Company, and CEO of Primerica.
- The only failure on his record? He lost a 1988 bid to unseat Frank Lautenberg from the Senate.
