Iowa City, Iowa — Hawkeye football legend Nile Kinnick, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1939, is the subject of a new 90-minute documentary that’s on the big screen in select Iowa theaters and online via the website Vimeo.
Iowa filmmaker Scott Siepker says “Kinnick: The Documentary” offers audiences an in-depth look into Kinnick’s riveting journey of hope, duty and perseverance, from his rise to fame on-field at the University of Iowa to his service during World War Two.
One of the people interviewed for the documentary is Don Bice, who was Kinnick’s first cousin. Bice, who’s now in his mid-90s, also grew up in Adel and was about the same age as Kinnick’s youngest brother, George.
From pouring over his letters and war journals, Siepker says it’s clear Kinnick had a wonderful sense of humor. He also had a clear plan laid out for his future which included finding a great woman to marry and with whom he could start a family, to finish law school, and to enter a life of public service. Siepker says many historians believe Kinnick could have become a US Senator and risen even higher.
Kinnick left law school after his first year and enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps Reserves. He was killed in 1943 while on a training flight from the aircraft carrier USS Lexington off the coast of Venezuela. Kinnick was 24. After five years of working on this documentary, Siepker says he’s been reminded that, “our heroes are the most inspiring when we remember that they are not that different from the rest of us.”
Trice was Iowa State University’s first African-American athlete, who died of injuries sustained during a 1923 game. The ISU stadium is named for Trice, just as the University of Iowa’s stadium honors Kinnick. To see the trailer of this documentary or to buy it visit https://vimeo.com/ondemand/kinnickdocumentary.
