Chicago Tribune Silver Football facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chicago Tribune Silver Football |
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Tim Lowry receiving the 1925 season's trophy
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| Given for | Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Conference |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Chicago Tribune |
| History | |
| First award | 1924 |
| Most recent | Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State |
| Website | http://www.chicagotribune.com |
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is a special award. It's given by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. It goes to the best college football player in the Big Ten Conference. This award has been given out every year since 1924. The very first winner was Red Grange from the University of Illinois. In 2022, the Chicago Tribune started working with the Union League Club of Chicago. The award is now kept there.
Contents
How the Winner Is Chosen
The winner of the Silver Football is chosen by the head football coaches of the Big Ten teams. Each coach votes for two players. They pick a first choice and a second choice. Coaches cannot vote for players on their own team. The player chosen as a first choice gets two points. The player chosen as a second choice gets one point. The player with the most points wins the award.
Big Ten coaches and sports reporters also choose other special awards each year. These are for different individual achievements.
Award Winners
The Silver Football award has been given out every year since 1924. Here are the amazing players who have won it:
| Year | Player | Team | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | Red Grange | Illinois | HB | |
| 1925 | Tim Lowry | Northwestern | C | |
| 1926 | Benny Friedman | Michigan | QB | |
| 1927 | Ken Rouse | Chicago | C | |
| 1928 | Chuck Bennett | Indiana | HB | |
| 1929 | Bill Glassgow | Iowa | HB | |
| 1930 | Wes Fesler | Ohio State | TE | Later coached Ohio State (1947-1950) |
| 1931 | Clarence Munn | Minnesota | G/FB | Later coached Michigan State (1947-1953) |
| 1932 | Harry Newman | Michigan | QB | |
| 1933 | Joe Laws | Iowa | QB | |
| 1934 | Pug Lund | Minnesota | HB | |
| 1935 | Jay Berwanger | Chicago | HB | First Heisman Trophy winner |
| 1936 | Vern Huffman | Indiana | HB/QB | All-American in both football and basketball |
| 1937 | Corbett Davis | Indiana | FB | |
| 1938 | Howard Weiss | Wisconsin | FB | |
| 1939 | Nile Kinnick | Iowa | HB | Heisman Trophy winner |
| 1940 | Tom Harmon | Michigan | HB | Heisman Trophy winner |
| 1941 | Jack Graf | Ohio State | QB/FB | |
| 1942 | Dave Schreiner | Wisconsin | TE | Died in World War II |
| 1943 | Otto Graham | Northwestern | QB | Later coached the Washington Redskins (1966-1968), NFL MVP (1951, 1953, 1955) |
| 1944 | Les Horvath | Ohio State | HB/QB | Heisman Trophy winner |
| 1945 | Ollie Cline | Ohio State | FB | |
| 1946 | Alex Agase | Illinois | G | Later coached Northwestern (1964-1972) and Purdue (1973-1976) |
| 1947 | Bump Elliott | Michigan | HB | Later coached Michigan (1959–1968) |
| 1948 | Art Murakowski | Northwestern | FB | |
| 1949 | Red Wilson | Wisconsin | TE | |
| 1950 | Vic Janowicz | Ohio State | HB | Heisman Trophy winner |
| 1951 | Bill Reichardt | Iowa | FB | |
| 1952 | Paul Giel | Minnesota | HB | |
| 1953 | First player to win twice, UPI Player of the Year | |||
| 1954 | Alan Ameche | Wisconsin | FB | Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year |
| 1955 | Howard Cassady | Ohio State | HB | Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year, AP Male Athlete of the Year |
| 1956 | Ken Ploen | Iowa | QB | |
| 1957 | Jim Pace | Michigan | HB | |
| 1958 | Randy Duncan | Iowa | QB | |
| 1959 | Bill Burrell | Illinois | G | |
| 1960 | Tom Brown | Minnesota | G/DL | |
| 1961 | Sandy Stephens | Minnesota | QB | |
| 1962 | Ron Vander Kelen | Wisconsin | QB | |
| 1963 | Dick Butkus | Illinois | LB | Two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year |
| 1964 | Bob Timberlake | Michigan | QB | |
| 1965 | Jim Grabowski | Illinois | RB | |
| 1966 | Bob Griese | Purdue | QB | NFL MVP (1971) |
| 1967 | Leroy Keyes | Purdue | RB | |
| 1968 | Ron Johnson | Michigan | RB | |
| 1969 | Mike Phipps | Purdue | QB | |
| 1970 | Mike Adamle | Northwestern | RB | |
| 1971 | Eric Allen | Michigan State | RB | |
| 1972 | Otis Armstrong | Purdue | RB | |
| 1973 | Archie Griffin | Ohio State | RB | |
| 1974 | Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year | |||
| 1975 | Cornelius Greene | Ohio State | QB | |
| 1976 | Rob Lytle | Michigan | RB | |
| 1977 | Larry Bethea | Michigan State | DE | |
| 1978 | Rick Leach | Michigan | QB | |
| 1979 | Tim Clifford | Indiana | QB | |
| 1980 | Mark Herrmann | Purdue | QB | |
| 1981 | Art Schlichter | Ohio State | QB | AFL MVP (1990) |
| 1982 | Anthony Carter | Michigan | WR | First wide receiver to win |
| 1983 | Don Thorp | Illinois | DL | |
| 1984 | Keith Byars | Ohio State | RB | |
| 1985 | Chuck Long | Iowa | QB | Later coached San Diego State (2006-2008) |
| 1986 | Jim Harbaugh | Michigan | QB | NFL Coach of the Year (2011), later coached Michigan (2015–2023) |
| 1987 | Lorenzo White | Michigan State | RB | |
| 1988 | Anthony Thompson | Indiana | RB | |
| 1989 | ||||
| 1990 | Nick Bell | Iowa | RB | |
| 1991 | Desmond Howard | Michigan | WR | Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year, Super Bowl MVP (XXXI) |
| 1992 | Lee Gissendaner | Northwestern | WR | |
| 1993 | Brent Moss | Wisconsin | RB | |
| 1994 | Kerry Collins | Penn State | QB | |
| 1995 | Eddie George | Ohio State | RB | Heisman Trophy winner |
| 1996 | Orlando Pace | Ohio State | OT | |
| 1997 | Charles Woodson | Michigan | CB | Heisman Trophy winner, NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2009) |
| 1998 | Joe Germaine | Ohio State | QB | |
| 1999 | Ron Dayne | Wisconsin | RB | Heisman Trophy winner, NCAA all-time leading rusher, AP Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year |
| 2000 | Drew Brees | Purdue | QB | Super Bowl MVP (XLVI), NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2008, 2011), AP Male Athlete of the Year (2010), Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (2010), Walter Payton Man of the Year (2006) |
| 2001 | Antwaan Randle El | Indiana | QB | |
| 2002 | Brad Banks | Iowa | QB | AP Player of the Year |
| 2003 | Chris Perry | Michigan | RB | |
| 2004 | Braylon Edwards | Michigan | WR | |
| 2005 | Michael Robinson | Penn State | QB | |
| 2006 | Troy Smith | Ohio State | QB | Heisman Trophy winner, AP Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year |
| 2007 | Rashard Mendenhall | Illinois | RB | |
| 2008 | Shonn Greene | Iowa | RB | |
| 2009 | Daryll Clark | Penn State | QB | |
| Brandon Graham | Michigan | DE | ||
| 2010 | Denard Robinson | Michigan | QB | |
| 2011 | Montee Ball | Wisconsin | RB | |
| 2012 | Braxton Miller | Ohio State | QB | |
| 2013 | ||||
| 2014 | Melvin Gordon | Wisconsin | RB | |
| 2015 | Ezekiel Elliott | Ohio State | RB | |
| 2016 | J. T. Barrett | Ohio State | QB | |
| Saquon Barkley | Penn State | RB | ||
| 2017 | Saquon Barkley | Penn State | RB | |
| 2018 | Dwayne Haskins | Ohio State | QB | |
| 2019 | Chase Young | Ohio State | DE | Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year (2020), NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (2020) |
| 2020 | Justin Fields | Ohio State | QB | |
| 2021 | Aidan Hutchinson | Michigan | DE | |
| 2022 | Blake Corum | Michigan | RB | |
| 2023 | Marvin Harrison Jr. | Ohio State | WR |
Winners by School
This table shows which schools have had the most Silver Football winners.
| School | Winners | First Winner | Most Recent Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 23 | Wes Fesler, 1930 | Marvin Harrison Jr., 2023 |
| Michigan | 19 | Benny Friedman, 1926 | Blake Corum, 2022 |
| Iowa | 10 | Bill Glassgow, 1929 | Shonn Greene, 2008 |
| Wisconsin | 9 | Howard Weiss, 1938 | Melvin Gordon, 2014 |
| Illinois | 7 | Red Grange, 1924 | Rashard Mendenhall, 2007 |
| Indiana | 7 | Chuck Bennett, 1928 | Antwaan Randle El, 2001 |
| Minnesota | 6 | Clarence Munn, 1931 | Sandy Stephens, 1961 |
| Purdue | 6 | Bob Griese, 1966 | Drew Brees, 2000 |
| Northwestern | 5 | Tim Lowry, 1925 | Lee Gissendaner, 1992 |
| Penn State | 5 | Kerry Collins, 1994 | Saquon Barkley, 2017 |
| Michigan State | 3 | Eric Allen, 1971 | Lorenzo White, 1987 |
| Chicago | 2 | Ken Rouse, 1927 | Jay Berwanger, 1935 |
| Maryland | 0 | none | |
| Nebraska | |||
| Rutgers | |||
Winners by Position
This table shows how many winners played each position in football.
| Offense | Defense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Total | Last Winner | Position | Total | Last Winner |
| RB / HB | 40 | Blake Corum, Michigan, 2022 | DE / DT | 6 | Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan, 2021 |
| QB | 35 | Justin Fields, OSU, 2020 | DB / CB / S | 1 | Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1997 |
| OT / G / C | 7 | Orlando Pace, OSU, 1996 | LB | 1 | Dick Butkus, Illinois,1963 |
| FB | 8 | Alan Ameche, Wisconsin, 1954 | |||
| WR | 5 | Marvin Harrison Jr., OSU, 2023 | |||
| TE | 3 | Red Wilson, Wisconsin, 1949 | |||
More About Big Ten Awards
- Big Ten Conference football individual awards
- Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball
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Chicago Tribune Silver Football Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.