The man who ended up at the most-storied franchise in NFL history quite appropriately came from the most-fabled college football program. As a senior, Paul Hornung put together an incredible 1956 season for Notre Dame and ended up with the Heisman Trophy. He managed this for arguably one of the weakest Fighting Irish teams in modern history, making Hornung’s individual laurels even that much more impressive.
For top college athletes in the 1950’s, playing offense and defense was hardly out of the ordinary, but having Hornung’s workload most certainly was. He led the Fighting Irish in every stat worth mentioning while playing quarterback, halfback, defensive back, returning punts and kickoffs, and even catching a few passes to boot. As fate would have it, Hornung continued to don the green and gold in Green Bay where he played halfback and kicked field goals for a decade, contributing mightily to four of Coach Lombardi’s five championships with the Packers. “The Golden Boy” is one of just three individuals to win the Heisman, be picked #1 overall in the NFL draft, and get inducted into both the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Featured here is Hornung’s game worn and signed Notre Dame jersey from his epic 1956 Heisman campaign in South Bend. The green, long-sleeved durene shirt comes in size 42 with proper tagging from King-O’Shea (Chicago manufacturer) and "W.O.W.O Main Auto Sports Shop Athletic Supplies" (local distributor in Fort Wayne, IN) located within the crotch flap. Hornung's iconic number "5" is stitched in white on the front and back. The all-original jersey shows outstanding wear with over a dozen team repairs in the upper chest, shoulders and a couple on the back side. A previous auction listing (sold for $33,378 in 2019) mentions that it was sourced from a Notre Dame teammate years ago. According to 1954-56 issues of Scholastic Football Magazine, Notre Dame used four different number font styles as well as alternative fabric styles. This number '5' matches the thick, long-sleeved versions worn in the 1956 team yearbook as well as during the Irish's November game that season against the University of North Carolina.
Hornung’s autograph on the front in 9/10 bold black marker was obtained in person by the initial consignor. It appears that Hornung had started to sign the front number but stopped after 'P'. Includes LOA’s from JSA (auto.) as well as Photo-Matching & Grading with a perfect 10 rating.