Johnny Lujack, winner of 1947 Heisman Trophy and Notre Dame legend, dies at 98

July 25 (UPI) -- University of Notre Dame legend Johnny Lujack, the winner of the 1947 Heisman Trophy, died Tuesday. He was 98.

Amy Schiller, Lujack's granddaughter, told ESPN the footballer was in good health until a few weeks ago and had entered hospice care. He died at the hospice facility in Naples, Fla., his grandson Grant Pohmann told The New York Times.

Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy gave Lujack a scholarship to play for the team from 1942 to 1943 but his career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

He returned to Notre Dame after the war, earning the earning All-America honors in 1946 and 1947, plus the 1947 Heisman Trophy.

At the time of his death, he was the oldest living recipient of the Heisman Trophy, which had been created just 12 years before he received it. He was the second Notre Dame athlete to receive the trophy after Angelo Bertelli.

Lujack was selected fourth in the 1946 draft for the NFL and began playing for the Chicago Bears in 1948. He made two Pro Bowls in 1950 and 1951.

He ended his career when he was offered an assistant coaching job by Leahy at Notre Dame in 1952 but left in 1954 when Leahy retired and Terry Brennan was named head coach.

Lujack later opened a car dealership with his father-in-law in Davenport, Iowa, and spent more than 40 years with the dealership. He once said he never made more than $20,000 a year from football.