Hearing Bruce
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Transcript of Bruce Smith's 1941 Heisman acceptance speech
“Mr. Chairman, Mr. President and members of the Downtown Athletic Club, ladies and gentleman: So much of emotional significance has happened in such a brief space of time that the task of responding on such an occasion leaves me at a loss to assign relative value.
No college football player could ask for a greater honor or thrill than to have his name added to the list of Jay Berwanger, Larry Kelley, Clint Frank, Davey O’Brien, Nile Kinnick and Tom Harmon, who preceded me in winning this coveted Heisman Trophy. My gratitude is sincere and my appreciation deeply felt. I can really only accept this trophy on behalf of my great Minnesota teammates and one of the greatest coaches of all time Bernie Bierman.
(Applause)
(Unintelligible) ...in the spirit of becoming modesty, but our team was good this year and literally carried me along to this honor. It was a year which was so productive with successful, outstanding and colorful players. The sportwriters and radio ambassadors had to make an exceptionally difficult decision, as was indicated by the small margin of votes between Angelo Bertelli of Notre Dame and myself.
I hope I can justify your decision of the majority. My dad, who is here this evening, is a lawyer back in Faribault, Minnesota. He tells me that the proper way to explain it is that I would be holding the trophy in trust of my teammates. Since I seem to be getting elaborate, however, I want to openly and firmly thank those teammates and my coach for without them this honor would have been absolutely impossible. To them I owe everything.
(Applause)
Football certainly has become an important part of American life. It even seems to have a place in diplomacy. I remember reading in the newspapers that Mr. Caruso (sic), the Japanese envoy, told the newspapermen on arriving here that he expected to carry the ball for a touchdown. As you all know by now, it didn’t work out that way. It looked as though he tried a quarterback sneak before the field was ruled.
(Applause and laughter)
In the Far East they may think American boys are soft, but I have had, and even have now, plenty of evidence in black and blue to prove that they are making a big mistake. (Applause) I think America will owe a great debt to the game of football when we finish this thing off. If six million American youngsters like myself are able to take it and come back for more, both from a physical standpoint and that of morale. If teaching team play and cooperation and exercise to go out and fight hard for the honor of our schools, then likewise the same skills can be depended on when we have to fight to defend for our country.
(Applause)
This is my first visit to New York and I find it very exciting. To the members of the Downtown Athletic Club, I offer my sincere thanks.
(Applause)
For most of Faribault, Bruce Smith is a name on the football field and printed in old newspaper clippings.
The local legend, who still stands as the University of Minnesota’s lone Heisman Trophy winner, was brought to life recently by the “re-discovery” of an audio recording of his 1941 Heisman acceptance speech, given just two days after Pearl Harbor was bombed.
In the early 1980s Lucius Smith, Bruce’s father, donated a large collection of artifacts, film and the audio recording to the Rice County Historical Society. The society stored the film and audio in its archives, but through the years the existence of the audio was forgotten.
“It wasn’t something I was aware of,” Historical Society Executive Director Susan Garwood said. “It had been safe and had been stored with our other tapes. In the process of moving things and taking an inventory, I came upon it. It’s more a sense of re-discovering and finding a new use for it.”
That new use is a nine-minute documentary put together by Julie Fox of Fox Video Productions and Bruce Krinke of Faribault Community Television.
“This is a pretty good find,” Krinke said. “It’s exciting we got it.”
“I always wanted to do something on Bruce Smith,” Fox said. “If we can preserve any type of history, that’s what people should do.”
Fox, who served on the historical society board in the 1990s, took the audio, which was on a cassette tape, and converted it to digital. She did the same with several reel-to-reel 8mm films the Historical Society had in its archives, thanks to some Minnesota Legacy grant funds and the Northfield History Collaborative.
“All the pieces just slipped into place,” Garwood said.
The audio is surprisingly crisp and clear.
“I was surprised it was as good as it was,” Krinke said. “That was recorded 70 years ago.”
“I was absolutely floored,” Garwood said of the first time she heard it. “It just shows how well the museum and Lucius have taken care of it.”
The video shows Smith playing every position on the field, punting, receiving a kickoff, throwing a pass, making a tackle and snagging an interception.
The video intersperses the moving images with still images from Krinke’s collection and text cards highlighting his career.
“It was an honor to do it, really,” Fox said. “I enjoy trying to preserve any type of history. When you have good images and good audio and you can convert film with technology today, it makes my job fun.”
The audio is crisp and clear, Smith’s voice is distinctive as he references the United States’ entrance into World War II.
“Anytime you can make history available today, in a meaningful way, is great,” Garwood said. “To hear Bruce’s voice, to hear the words and the emphasis that he put is great. Some of the words that he used in there really became poignant and profound at this time. His comparison to teamwork and that we were prepared and strong was really significant.”
— Sports editor Brendan Burnett-Kurie may be reached at 333-3129.
Copyright © 2012 Faribault Daily News