The Heisman Trophy Moves into Its New Home

Trohpy News From New York

The 80-pound statue was lugged a short distance Wednesday from a safe at its temporary home on Battery Place to its permanent dwelling. The original, nearly 73-year-old Heisman Trophy, tarnished by time and reverent rubbing, was then hoisted upon a wooden pedestal by two of its past winners — Pete Dawkins and Mike Rozier — at the $93 million Sports Museum of America, which will open next week in Lower Manhattan.

The Heisman Trophy winners General Pete Dawkins, left, and Mike Rozier welcomed the trophy to its new home at the nearly-opened Sports Museum of America in Lower Manhattan.

“This is a great moment for this fella,” Dawkins, a retired brigadier general who won the football trohpy in 1958, said as video of the reigning winner, Tim Tebow of Florida, played on a wall opposite the statue.

The trophy was orphaned by 9/11, which forced the shuttering of the Downtown Athletic Club, its longtime residence that was subsequently converted to condominiums.

In 2002 and 2003, the trophy was displayed full-time in the lobby at the Yale Club, where it was tended to by a security guard. When its presentation ceremony was switched to the New York Hilton and then the Nokia Theater in Times Square, it was removed to the Heisman Trophy Trust’s offices. Discussions were held about relocating it to the New York Athletic Club and the now-defunct City Athletic Club, but no deal was ever reached.

Now, the bronze statue with its familiar side step and right arm thrusted (modeled by Ed Smith of New York University) is the centerpiece of a 2,482-square-foot gallery devoted to its history and lore. “It’s 300 yards from its ancestral home,” Dockery said. The presentation of the trophy each December will take place at the museum.

Like all winners, Dawkins and Rozier were never allowed to take the original Heisman home, unlike members of Stanley Cup-winning teams, who have toted the championship totem around the world. Dawkins (from Army) and Rozier (Nebraska), both running backs, received versions of their own that weigh about 40 pounds.

Dawkins, the 1958 winner, left his for 20 years with his family in Michigan. It is now at his home in New Jersey. Rozier’s has resided with his mother in Willingboro, N.J., since he won it in 1983. Looking at the original statue, Rozier said, “Mine looks a little more pristine.”

Originally Written by Richard Sandomir in the New York Times