He was perhaps the best T-formation quarterback ever, a brilliant passer who was also a clever ball handler, effective runner and inspirational leader for the University of Notre Dame football program.

But that was only half of what won Johnny Lujack the Heisman Trophy in 1947. He was just as good on defense. For decades, Irish fans recalled his open-field tackle on Army great Doc Blanchard that preserved the 1946 scoreless tie in Yankee Stadium.

“I loved it when you played both ways,” Lujack said. â”If you made a mistake, you didn’t have to go to the sideline to face the coach.”

A six-foot, 180-pounder from Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Lujack led the Irish to a 20-1-1 record in his two and a half varsity seasons. In 1943, Lujack replaced Heisman winner Angelo Bertelli, whose teams were averaging 43 points per game, when Bertelli left for the Marines. Lujack promptly led the Irish to a national title.

Then Lujack, too, was off to war, spending the next two years aboard a Navy ship that prowled the English Channel for German U-boats. Lujack returned to Notre Dame and led the Irish to two more national titles in 1946 and 1947. He was a two-time All-American and a letterman in four sports (only the third Irish player to do that). In 1947, in addition to the Heisman, Lujack was selected athlete of the year by the Associated Press.

After his Heisman Trophy year, Lujack had another year of eligibility remaining, but he elected to graduate and go on to the pros, where he became a star for the Chicago Bears. After four brilliant seasons as Sid Luckman’s replacement, Lujack surprised the football world by announcing his retirement, at age 26, to return to South Bend as a backfield coach under Frank Leahy, the legendary Irish coach for whom Lujack had played during his college career.

He later became a football commentator on TV and went into the automobile business in Iowa, building a successful group of dealerships. Lujack split his time between Bettendorf, Iowa, and Indian Wells, Calif.

“When I got out of Notre Dame, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” Lujack once said. “I was thrilled with playing for the great Chicago Bears. But even then I was looking beyond and wondering what I would do eventually. I wasn’t silly enough to think that heroes last forever.”

But they do at Notre Dame, where he’s revered as one of the greatest Irish players ever. His coach with the Bears, the legendary George Halas, paid Lujack this compliment: “Completely stripped of all his amazing football skills, Lujack is indispensable for one thing—his poise.”

Johnny died on July 25, 2023.