Les Horvath

Les Horvath

Horvath depicted on a Bowman card of 1948
No. 12, 22, 92
Position:	Halfback
Personal information
Born:	(1921-10-12)October 12, 1921 South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Died:	November 14, 1995(1995-11-14) (aged 74) Glendale, California, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:	173 lb (78 kg)
Career information
High school:	James Ford Rhodes (Cleveland, Ohio)
College:	Ohio State (1940–1942; 1944)
NFL draft:	1943 / round: 6 / pick: 45
Career history
Los Angeles Rams (1947–1948) Cleveland Browns (1949)
Career highlights and awards
AAFC champion (1949) 2× National champion (1942, 1944) Heisman Trophy (1944) SN Player of the Year (1944) Unanimous All-American (1944) Chicago Tribune Silver Football (1944) First-team All-Big Ten (1944) Ohio State Buckeyes No. 22 retired
Career NFL/AAFC statistics
Rushing yards: 221 Rushing average: 3.8 Rushing touchdowns: 1 Receptions: 9 Receiving yards: 142 Receiving touchdowns: 1 Military career Allegiance  United States Service / branch  United States Navy Years of service 1945–1947 Rank Lieutenant junior Unit Dental officer Battles / wars World War II Stats at Pro Football Reference
College Football Hall of Fame

Leslie Horvath (October 12, 1921 – November 14, 1995) was an American football quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy while playing for the Ohio State Buckeyes in 1944.^[1] Horvath was the first Ohio State player to win the Heisman, an award given to the best college football player in the United States. The school retired his jersey number 22 in October 2000.^[2]

Horvath grew up in Parma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland and became a standout high school athlete despite his small stature. He entered Ohio State in 1939 on a work scholarship, but tried out for and made the football team the following year. He played as a reserve halfback on the 1942 team coached by Paul Brown that won Ohio State's first-ever national championship. Horvath graduated that year and moved to Ohio State's dental school. In 1944, however, acting Ohio State football coach Carroll Widdoes asked Horvath to rejoin the team, taking advantage of a World War II-era rule allowing graduate students with remaining eligibility to play. Horvath agreed, and helped lead the Buckeyes to a 9–0 record and a second-place showing in the AP Poll. He won the Heisman and was named an All-American at the end of the season.

Horvath graduated from dental school in 1945 and served as a dental officer in the U.S. Navy for two years. Following his discharge, he played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams in 1947 and 1948 before being released and signing with the Cleveland Browns in |1949. The Browns won the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) championship that year. Horvath retired from playing in 1950 and moved to Los Angeles to practice dentistry, and lived there for the rest of his life. Horvath was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1977.