When Dick Kazmaier was given the opportunity to play football for a living, he decided he wanted to make real money instead. Thus the Princeton halfback and the 1951 Heisman Trophy recipient said no to an NFL career and yes to a business career.
Kazmaier chose wisely. He eventually built a successful financial planning and consulting firm with a focus on sports. He died Thursday at age 82 of heart and lung disease in Boston, according to The New York Times.
PHOTOS: Heisman Trophy winners | Notable sports deaths of 2013
Kazmaier's decision not to turn pro was a lot easier in '51 than it would be today. As the Times noted, NFL players made about $5,000 a year at the time. That was OK for seasonal work, but Kazmaier had bigger goals and the means to achieve them.
Besides, he once said (per the Times), "I had achieved everything I could achieve as an individual and as part of a team (at Princeton). I felt there was nowhere to go but down (in the NFL).?
He declined to sign with the Chicago Bears, who had drafted him, and went to Harvard for his master's degree, which he received in 1954. He then served three years as a Naval officer before ultimately moving into sports marketing and consulting. He founded Kazmaier Associates in 1975.
Kazmaier is one of 12 Heisman winners to have never played in an NFL regular season game after leaving college. The others: Jay Berwanger, Larry Kelley, Clint Frank, Nile Kinnick, Doc Blanchard, Pete Dawkins, Ernie Davis, Joe Bellino (played in the AFL), Charlie Ward, Eric Crouch and Jason White.
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