The Adventures of Johnny Lujack

The Notre Dame football team kept their undefeated record intact last Saturday despite some unsteady play from their quarterback Ian Book.  Mr. Book has a lot to live up to at a university that has featured such quarterbacking luminaries as Paul Hornung, Joe Theismann, Joe Montana, and, of course, Johnny Lujack.

Who's Johnny Lujack? Well, he was a scrappy young lad from Western Pennsylvania who after spending two years in the Navy during World War II led Notre Dame to back-to-back national championships in 1946 and 1947, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1947. But what really separates Johnny from the others was that his fame at Notre Dame propelled him to a starring role in a national radio show. The Adventures of Johnny Lujack premiered on ABC in 1948 and featured Johnny playing a gridiron gumshoe who used his knowledge of football trick plays to tackle the most sinister elements of the criminal underworld.  Unfortunately, the show only lasted one season, which is probably understandable if you actually listen to the episode linked to below. Nevertheless, Johnny Lujack will always be this country's first ever Quarterback Detective.

By the way, at the end of the episode, the narrator gives information on how to join the Johnny Lujack Club To Lick Juvenile Delinquency. Now, I'm sure that organization did very good work, but I doubt that they're currently taking new members.
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