Former Notre Dame QB and 1947 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack dies

Nick Bromberg
FILE - Notre Dame quarterback Johnny Lujack, left, recceives the Heisman Memorial Trophy from Wilbur Jurden, president of the Downtown Athletic Club in New York, Dec. 10, 1947. Lujack, the Heisman Trophy winner who led Notre Dame to three national championships in the 1940s, died in Florida on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, following a brief illness. He was 98. (AP Photo/Jacob Harris, File)
Johnny Lujack won the 1947 Heisman Trophy after the Irish finished the season undefeated. Notre Dame finished each of Lujack's three seasons atop the AP Top 25. (AP Photo/Jacob Harris, File)

Former Notre Dame quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack died Tuesday. He was 98.

Lujack is one of the most legendary players in Notre Dame history and his college career was sandwiched around World War II. He won the 1947 Heisman Trophy as a senior ahead of Michigan running back Bob Chappuis and Notre Dame finished atop the AP Top 25 in each of his three seasons as the team's starting QB.

“He was not only a legend in Notre Dame football and the sports world,” Lujack's granddaughter Amy Schiller told the Associated Press, "he was a legend as a father and grandfather and great grandfather.”

Lujack came to Notre Dame in 1942 and first saw the field for the Irish in 1943 when he rushed for 191 yards and threw for 525 yards in 10 games. He was a naval officer in 1944 and 1945 during the war and was assigned to patrols in the English Channel.

He returned for his final two seasons of eligibility in 1946 and 1947. Lujack finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1946 when he threw for 778 yards and rushed for 108. He then won the award the following season with 777 passing yards and 139 rushing yards.

Notre Dame lost just one game in Lujack’s three seasons at quarterback and didn’t lose at all in his final two seasons. The Irish went 9-1 in 1943 with a 19-14 loss to Great Lakes Navy to end the season. The Irish were 8-0-1 in 1946 and won five straight games to start the season before a scoreless tie with Army. The Irish allowed just 24 points all season long and no opponent scored more than six in a single game.

Notre Dame won every game in 1947 and had just one victory by single digits. That came in a 26-19 win over Northwestern on Nov. 15. Every other win was by at least 15 as Northwestern was the only team to score more than seven.

Lujack was the No. 4 pick in the 1946 NFL Draft and spent four seasons with the Chicago Bears. His best season came in 1949 when he completed 52% of his passes and threw for 2,658 yards and 23 TDs to go along with 22 interceptions. Just three quarterbacks threw for more than 2,000 yards that season and Lujack threw for 490 more yards than Bob Waterfield.

A Pennsylvania native, Lujack was a multi-sport star in high school and chose Notre Dame after falling in love with the school as a child while listening to the team’s football games on the radio.