Leon Hart

Leon Joseph Hart (November 2, 1928 – September 24, 2002) was an American football player whose career spanned the college and professional ranks. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning All-American honors in three consecutive seasons from 1947 to 1949 and winning both the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award in 1949. Over his four years at Notre Dame, he helped the team to a 36–0–2 record, contributing to national championships in 1946, 1947, and 1949.

Hart then played eight professional seasons, from 1950 to 1957, with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He remains the only lineman to win three college football national championships and three NFL championships, and he is the most recent of only two linemen ever to win the Heisman Trophy. He is also one of five players—along with Angelo Bertelli, Cam Newton, Joe Burrow, and Fernando Mendoza—to win the Heisman Trophy, capture a national championship, and be selected first overall in the NFL draft within the same one-year span.

Beyond the field, Hart was a pioneer for NFL player benefits. During the 1954 season he risked his professional career by initiating union talks aimed at securing a reasonable standard of living for all players, well before the eventual formation of the NFL Players Association.