Johnny Lattner obit

Johnny Lattner, a Versatile, Heisman-Winning Halfback With Notre Dame, Dies at 83

He was not on the list.

Johnny Lattner, the versatile halfback who won the 1953 Heisman Trophy playing for an unbeaten Notre Dame team, died on Saturday at his home in Melrose Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. He was 83.

Notre Dame said the cause was complications of mesothelioma, a type of cancer.

Lattner, who played both offense and defense, was not especially fast, but he was an elusive runner and a good blocker, and he caught passes, returned kicks, punted and was an outstanding defensive back. He was a two-time all-American and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

“We just didn’t have specialists in one-platoon football,” he recalled in a profile for a 1988 Notre Dame football program. “It was a challenging-type game because you had to be mentally and physically prepared to play 60 minutes. You had to spread your talent all over the field.”

Lattner played only one season in the pros. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the first round of the 1954 N.F.L. draft. He ran for five touchdowns, caught passes for two more, made kick returns and was named to the Pro Bowl. But he entered the Air Force in 1955, fulfilling a military commitment from his time in the Notre Dame R.O.T.C., and was assigned to play for a service football team. A knee injury he sustained in a game ended his pro career.

Lattner scored 20 touchdowns and amassed 3,095 all-purpose yards for Notre Dame from 1951 to 1953, a program record that stood until 1979, when Vagas Ferguson eclipsed it. He also intercepted 13 passes.

In addition to winning the Heisman, awarded by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York, as college football’s leading player, Lattner was the first two-time winner of the Maxwell Award, from the Maxwell Football Club in suburban Philadelphia, also awarded to the top collegiate player. He received it in 1952 and ’53; the only other player to have received it twice is Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in 2007 and 2008.

Lattner was featured on the cover of Time magazine in November 1953 and narrowly beat Paul Giel, a tailback at the University of Minnesota, in the Heisman voting. His victory was a tribute to his all-around talents, since he did not lead Notre Dame in rushing, receiving or scoring that year.

Notre Dame went 9-0-1 in Lattner’s senior season, a near perfect year spoiled by a tie with Iowa, and was ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Maryland.

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John Joseph Lattner was born on Oct. 24, 1932, in Chicago. He was an all-state high school football player and received numerous college scholarship offers. He chose to play for Frank Leahy at Notre Dame.

He also played basketball for Notre Dame’s 1951-52 team.

After his Air Force service, Lattner coached a high school football team in Wisconsin and was an assistant coach at the University of Denver.

He was a fixture in Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade over the years, often wearing kilts. His original Heisman Trophy was destroyed in a fire at one of two restaurants he owned in Chicago, but he obtained a replica and often lent it out as an attraction at events raising money for charity.

After leaving the restaurant business, Lattner was vice president for sales at a printing company in the Chicago area.

His survivors include his wife, Peggy; his sons, Jack, Bill, Tim and Mike; his daughters, Kate Gancer, Maggie Skiver, Tricia Smith and Gretchen Spillane; and many grandchildren.

Lattner was the fourth Notre Dame player to win the Heisman, having been preceded by quarterback Angelo Bertelli in 1943, quarterback Johnny Lujack in 1947 and end Leon Hart in 1949.

There were also rewards away from the field for him and his teammates, as he once told The Chicago Sun-Times, remembering a visit to Hollywood with some teammates before Notre Dame played Southern California at Los Angeles Coliseum: