Johnny Lujack, one of college football’s all-time great players and a quarterback for the Bears for four seasons, has died at the age of 98.
Lujack’s college football career is legendary: In 1943, he led Notre Dame to a national championship. He then left to join the Navy and fight in World War II, hunting German submarines in the English Channel. After the war, he returned to Notre Dame and led the Irish to two more national championships in 1946 and 1947. He won the Heisman Trophy at the end of his final season.
The Bears drafted Lujack, and for a brief time he was one of the NFL’s best all-around players, playing offense, defense and special teams. As a rookie in 1948, Lujack intercepted eight passes while playing defensive back. In 1949, he led the NFL with 2,658 passing yards and 23 touchdowns while playing quarterback. In 1950, he led the NFL with 11 rushing touchdowns. And over the course of his career he was one of football’s most accurate short-yardage kickers, going 130-for-136 on extra points.
Lujack played just four years in the NFL before deciding to retire, and he would then go on to be a Notre Dame assistant coach, and a car dealer. His family announced that Lujack died on Friday. He had been in good health until falling ill a couple weeks ago.
