Angelo Bertelli

Another season of Notre Dame football is nearly upon us. To get everyone ready for the 2006 season, over the course of each of the next four weeks, I'll be sending out emails that look at different personalities that have contributed to Notre Dame through the 119-year tradition of what has been called "history's program." This week, we look at the story of one of Notre Dame's greatest players and her very first Heisman Trophy winner. A heralded signalcaller, war hero, and successful businessman, Angelo Bertelli always kept a state of quiet dignity about his accomplishments.

Go Irish! Beat Jackets!

Mike

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It is one of the old standards of college sports that one should never follow a legend. The expectations for an individual in that position are too great, and, consequently, the chances for success are more difficult. This adage has been proved time and again with Notre Dame's famed football program. Perhaps at no point was this better demonstrated than in the years following the untimely death of the school's most famous coach, Knute Rockne. In the ten years following Rock's death in 1931, coaches Hunk Anderson and Elmer Layden struggled in the shadow cast by the titanic litany of Rockne. So great was Rockne's influence on the school that in the late 1930s, as other programs were adopting new offensive schemes, Notre Dame was still employing the outdated Rockne Shift. This all changed in 1942 when second-year coach Frank Leahy controversially abandoned the Shift in favor of the innovative T formation. This move was made possible in part by the unique abilities of one of Leahy's most famous players and Notre Dame's first Heisman Trophy winner, Angelo Bertelli.

The great Angelo Bertelli was a heralded back from Springfield , Massachusetts who was recruited heavily by a number of coaches as his high school career ended in 1940, including the then-coach of Boston College , Leahy. Born in 1921, Bertelli electrified opponents during his high school years, earning him the nickname "The Springfield Rifle." Despite its distance from home, Notre Dame was Bertelli's choice when he graduated high school, opting for the famed university as so many recruits from Catholic high schools did in those days.

Bertelli enrolled at Notre Dame in the fall of 1940, but due to restrictions on freshmen playing in those days, he did not play in that, the final season of Coach Elmer Layden's tenure. As a sophomore in 1941, Bertelli played as a tailback. During that season, he threw for over 1,000 yards and led the nation in completion percentage, showing the skills that led many to remark on his remarkably accurate short passing abilities. That 1941 season saw the Irish finish with a 9-0-1 record, the school's first undefeated campaign since the days of Rockne. Meanwhile, in a bit of foreshadowing, the sophomore Bertelli finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting that year.

In 1942, Leahy implemented his switch to the T formation. Fans howled in protest when the school only went 2-2 in its first four games, including a loss to Michigan in the schools' first meeting since 1909. With Bertelli at quarterback, the team improved, however, finishing the season with a 7-2-2 record.

In Bertelli's senior season of 1943, the T formation would allow him to lead an offensive attack that averaged 43 points per game through its first six games. The most anticipated game of that season was when #1 Notre Dame and #2 Michigan squared off in Ann Arbor . Notre Dame's convincing 35-12 win put them in the driver's seat for the national title, a position that was further strengthened by a win over wartime power Navy in which Bertelli threw for three touchdowns.

Having led the team to a 6-0 start, Bertelli was excited to take part in Notre Dame's annual grudge match against third-ranked Army in New York in early November. Uncle Sam had other plans, however. As World War II continued to rage throughout Europe and the Pacific, Bertelli was called to training camp for the Marine Corps. As a member of the first training group at Parris Island , Bertelli and his comrades had a group of Marines waiting to run them into the ground.

Notre Dame's good fortunes continued on in Bertelli's absence, however. Future Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack would take Bertelli's place at quarterback and lead the Irish to a 9-1-0 final record, culminating with the school's fourth consensus national title and first since 1930. The national championship was bestowed on Notre Dame despite a last second season-ending loss to a team of semi-professionals from Great Lakes Naval Base. In a hut on Parris Island , Bertelli and a group of other Notre Dame student-recruits listened to the radio in shock as the Irish lost that final game. As Bertelli left the hut, however, he was approached by a Marine with a telegram informing him that he had just won the Heisman Trophy.

Bertelli went on to serve with distinction during his tour with the Marines during World War II, attaining the rank of captain. He fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Guam , earning the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After leaving the Marines, Bertelli finished his degree at Notre Dame, and then went on to play for the Los Angeles and Chicago franchises in the All-America Football Conference for three seasons before knee injuries ended his career. Bertelli later ran a series of businesses after settling in Clifton , New Jersey . He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

Despite the accomplishments that Angelo Bertelli attained during his career at Notre Dame, he was always a humble and unassuming individual. As the first of Notre Dame's seven Heisman Trophy winners, Bertelli started a tradition of Notre Dame quarterbacks being considered for college football's greatest individual award, a tradition that continues this year with Brady Quinn. Although he passed on in June of 1999, Bertelli's legacy will long endure at Notre Dame, not simply for his gridiron greatness, but for the sacrifice that he made during his service in World War II, and the unassuming manner in which he carried himself through life.

Originally published August 2, 2006
copyright Michael D. McAllister 2006