 Horvath depicted on a Bowman card of 1948 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12, 22, 92 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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: 6th round, 45th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL/AAFC statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Leslie Horvath (October 12, 1921 – November 14, 1995) was an Americanfootballquarterback who won theHeisman Trophy while playing for theOhio 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 inParma, Ohio, a suburb ofCleveland 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 thefollowing year. He played as a reserve halfback on the1942 team coached byPaul Brown that won Ohio State's first-evernational championship. Horvath graduated that year and moved to Ohio State's dental school. In 1944, however, acting Ohio State football coachCarroll Widdoes asked Horvath to rejoin the team, taking advantage of aWorld 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 theAP poll. He won the Heisman and was named anAll-American at the end of the season.
Horvath graduated from dental school in 1945 and served as a dental officer in theU.S. Navy for two years. Following his discharge, he played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theLos Angeles Rams in 1947 and 1948 before being released and signing with theCleveland Browns in |1949. The Browns won theAll-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 theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1977.
Horvath was born to immigrant parents from Hungary in 1921, inSouth Bend, Indiana; his family soon moved toParma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.[3][4] He attendedParma Senior High School starting in 1936 and played on the track, basketball and football teams until the 11th grade. He decided to switch schools because he felt his basketball teammates were not taking the sport seriously.[4][5] Horvath's family relocated, and in 1938 he enrolled atJames Ford Rhodes High School in Cleveland, one of Parma's rivals.[5][6] Playing as aquarterback for the Rhodes Rams, Horvath guided the team to seven straight wins in 1938, but the team lost to West Technical High School for a chance to be the Cleveland Senate League's Western Conference representative in the city championship.[7][8] He graduated in 1939.[9]
After graduating, Horvath attendedOhio State University on a work scholarship, but managed to make the school'sfootball team in 1940.[10] Horvath was small for a football player – he weighed just 160 pounds – but was a quick runner and had a strong arm.[11] Ohio State's football team was a disappointment in 1940, however, finishing the season with a 4–4win–loss record under head coachFrancis Schmidt.[10] Schmidt was fired after the season and replaced by Paul Brown, an Ohio high school coach who had guidedMassillon Washington to a series of undefeated records and state championships.[10][12] Brown simplified Ohio State's offense, but imposed a level of discipline and organization that had been absent under Schmidt.[10] Horvath was a reservehalfback in theBuckeyes'single-wing offense in 1941, when the team posted a 6–1–1 win–loss–tie record and finished second in theBig Ten Conference standings.[10] He played in many games, butseniorfullbackJack Graf and senior halfback Tom Kinkade got most of thecarries for Ohio State.[10]
Despite his small frame, Brown recognized Horvath's potential as a senior in 1942 and made him a regular starter at halfback besidePaul Sarringhaus and fullbackGene Fekete.[10][13] While Sarringhaus and Fekete were Ohio State's main offensive weapons, Horvath averaged eight yards per carry in a victory overPittsburgh and scored two touchdowns and passed for 109 yards in a win overIllinois in Cleveland.[10][11] Ohio State was ranked first in the country in theAP poll early in the season, but fell in the rankings after a loss toWisconsin in October.[14] The team won the rest of its games, however, including a 21–7 victory over arch-rivalMichigan at the end of the season.[15] Horvath passed to Sarringhaus for a 35-yard touchdown and caught another 32-yard touchdown pass from Sarringhaus in the Michigan game.[16] Ohio State's 9–1 record put it on top of the Big Ten standings and in thefinal AP poll, giving the school its first-evernational championship.[17]
Horvath expected his college football career to be over in 1942.[18] He finished his undergraduate degree that year and enrolled in a graduate program at theOhio State University College of Dentistry.[18] Ohio State's football program, meanwhile, struggled in 1943 after Brown and many of its best players entered the military duringWorld War II.[10][18]Carroll Widdoes, an assistant under Brown, was appointed the acting head coach and led the team to a 3–6 record.[10]
The following year, Widdoes asked Horvath to return to the team, taking advantage of a wartime rule that allowed college programs to use graduate students if they had not exhausted their four years of college eligibility.[10] Widdoes promised Horvath a leading role as the team's left halfback, a level of prominence he had been denied under Brown.[10] Horvath agreed to come back and be a veteran leader for a team that was composed mostly offreshmen because of older players' service in the war.[10] Horvath had a breakout season in 1944, gaining 669 rushing yards and 1,200all-purpose yards as the Buckeyes turned in a 9–0 record and finished second in the national polls.[18] The highlights of Horvath's season included scoring the winning touchdown in Ohio State's annual matchup against Michigan.[18] Calling all of Ohio State's offensive plays, he was nicknamed the "playing coach".[18]
Horvath was named a first-teamAll-American by sportswriters and theMost Valuable Player in the Big Ten after the season.[10] He was voted by his teammates as Ohio State's Most Valuable Player.[19] He also won theHeisman Trophy, an award given each year to the best college football player in the country.[10] Horvath was the first Ohio State player to win the Heisman, and he remains the only Heisman winner not to have played football the previous season.[10][18] In early 1945, Horvath played in the annualEast–West Shrine Game, a college all-star game.[20] While at Ohio State, he was a member ofDelta Tau Delta fraternity.[21]
After graduating from Ohio State's dental school in 1945, Horvath signed to play for theCleveland Rams of theNational Football League.[22] Horvath, however, applied for a commission to join theU.S. Navy and was sworn in as alieutenant j.g. that August.[10][22][23] He was sent at first toNaval Station Great Lakes inIllinois for training, where he practiced dentistry and acted as an assistant to Brown, who had entered the Navy and was coaching the base's football team.[18] Horvath served inHawaii and coached a football team there that won a service national championship.[18] He later traveled on assignment as far as China as a naval dental officer.[24]
Before his discharge from the Navy in 1947, there was speculation that Horvath might join theCleveland Browns, a new team coached by Brown in theAll-America Football Conference (AAFC).[24] Horvath was still under contract with the Rams, however, and joined the team, which had moved from Cleveland toLos Angeles in1946.[24][25] Led by quarterbackBob Waterfield, Los Angeles finished the season with a 6–6 record in 1947.[26] Horvath rushed for 68 yards and had three receptions.[26] Horvath had 118 yards of rushing the next season, when the Rams finished with a 6–5–1 record and took third place in the NFL West division.[27]
Horvath, who worked as a dentist in the offseason in Los Angeles, was released by the Rams in 1949.[28] He signed with the Browns a week later, closing his dental office and moving to Cleveland to reunite with Brown.[28] Horvath, who was used primarily on defense early in the season, had an 84-yard fumble return for a touchdown in a game against theNew York Yankees, and ran for two touchdowns in a November game against theChicago Hornets.[29][30] Cleveland finished the season with a 9–1–2 record and won a fourth straight AAFC championship.[31][32] The AAFC disbanded after the season and the Browns were absorbed by the NFL, but Horvath decided to quit football to practice dentistry back in California.[33][34]
Horvath married Shirley Phillips, an airline hostess after the 1949 season, and moved back to Los Angeles.[35] He coached little league football and practiced dentistry inGlendale, California, a major Los Angeles suburb, for the rest of his life.[18] His wife died in 1973, he remarried two years later to Ruby Aylor, whom he met in Hawaii while on vacation in 1974.[9][18] They were married for 20 years, until Horvath's death in 1995 ofheart failure.[9][18]
Horvath was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1966 and became a member of Ohio State's athletics hall of fame in 1977.[3][36] Ohio State retired his number 22 uniform in 2001, six years after his death.[18] He was inducted into the Parma Senior High School athletics hall of fame in 2007.[5]
... James Ford Rhodes Rams galloped to their seventh straight triumph of the season yesterday afternoon
Clevelander Les Horvath, Ohio State All-American backfield star, was sworn in as a navy lieutenant, junior grade, here today.
Horvath, a naval dental officer, is now en route to China on assignment ...
In uniform for the first time today was Les Horvath, former Cleveland James Ford Rhodes High and Ohio State university star, who got his release by the Los Angeles Rams of the National League late last week, closed up his California dental office and flew here for another fling with his old college coach.
Les Horvath, the former James Ford Rhodes and Ohio State All-American, has decided to quit pro football and will devote all his time to the practice of dentistry in Los Angeles.
