Ralph Heikkinen

Ralph Isaac "Hike" Heikkinen (May 14, 1917 – January 12, 1990) was an All-American guard for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team from 1936 to 1938.

A fellow native of the Upper Peninsula (Tamarack City, Michigan), Anderson played guard at Notre Dame from 1919 to 1921 and was Knute Rockne's successor as Notre Dame's head coach in 1931.

He attended A.D. Johnston High School, in Bessemer, Michigan, from 1933 to 1935.

As a junior in 1933, Heikkinen was elected president of the student council.

Heikkinen was a superior student who graduated with high honors student, and finished third in his high school class academically.

When a new library opened in Bessemer in 1934, Heikkinen was the first person to check out a book, A.B. De Mille's Three English Comedies.

He was also an officer in the school's ROTC program, and received honors for his participation in the high school's military, athletics and student affairs programs.

Despite weighing only 145 lb, Heikkinen won a spot on his high school football team; his high school coach Robert Reihsen said he won a spot due to his aggressive play.

Local papers reported that Heikkinen's line play during high school was marked by hard tackling and blocking.

During his junior season in 1934, Coach Reihsen recalled Heikkinen played every minute of every game.

Coach Reihnsen's team was known as the "Speed Boys," and gave up only two points in the first four games, outscoring opponents, 65–2.

In November 1934, Coach Reihsen took Heikkinen to Minneapolis to attend his first Big Ten football game, the Little Brown Jug match between Michigan and Minnesota.

Reihsen recalled that, after the game, Heikkinen said: "Some day I'm going to play in this stadium."

In July 1935, Heikkinen won an academic scholarship to the University of Michigan.

The Bessemer Herald noted: "It was no surprise to learn that Ralph Heikkinen of Ramsay has been awarded a University of Michigan Alumni scholarship, although only 50 high school seniors in the state can win the honor each year . . . Ralph is a very good student; he ranked third in scholastic standings in a class of 128 . . . Heikkinen was also an outstanding guard on the B.H.S. football team for two years and he intends to try out for the Wolverine freshman squad this fall."

The scholarship was renewed from year to year and covered Heikkinen's tuition.

To supplement his income, Heikkinen worked eight-hour days in a Fort Dearborn plant during his freshman year.

The president of the Gogebic Range U-M Alumni Club later recalled that Heikkinen won his scholarship by passing a competitive examination.

Of those receiving scholarships, Heikkinen was credited with the finest all around record of any undergraduate among the alumni scholarship students.

When Heikkinen graduated from high school, he weighed only 155 lb and was thought too light to play Big Ten football.

His height was reported variously as 5 ft, 5 ft, and 5 ft. Heikkinen was described by the Detroit News as a "pigmy" compared to Michigan's last great guard, Albert Benbrook, who was 6 ft and more than 250 lb. He was also described as "the stock atom," and the "pint-sized" lineman.

But Heikkinen viewed his size as an asset: "My size had been a help rather than a hindrance. It is easier for a small man to pull out of the line and run interference than a big one. I had no trouble out-charging big men; it was the small men who gave me all the trouble."

Heikkinen did not excel on the freshman team, but was invited by Coach Harry Kipke to spring practice in 1936 to try out for the varsity team.

In April 1936, the people back in Bessemer gave Heikkinen a vote of confidence; the school board approved a $55 payment to Heikkinen as "advance payment" for some form of employment to be given "during the coming summer months."

However, Heikkinen did not win a starting spot on the 1936 team and was not even ranked among the top sophomore guards on the team.

At the end of the 1936 season, the highest praise Coach Kipke could muster was to call him "one of the better defensive linemen on the squad."

Assistant coach Bennie Oosterbaan said Heikkinen had "the right attitude," and coach Wally Weber described him as "a hard worker."

However, the Michigan Daily noted: "The only weakness of the Ramsay boy is his lack of speed. Speedy guards are needed to pull out of the line and lead the interference, and Heikkinen hasn't quite shown that he is fast enough to move in Big Ten competition as yet."

The first person on the Michigan staff to believe in Heikkinen was Heartley Anderson.

He was a unanimous All-American in 1938, the first player from the Gogebic Range area of Michigan's Upper Peninsula to win the honor.

His exploits were widely reported in the Upper Peninsula press, where he became a local hero.

He played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939.

From 1940 to 1944, he was the line coach for the Virginia Cavaliers football team while attending the University of Virginia School of Law at the same time.

After practicing law in New York for a time, he spent a year as a line coach and law professor at Marquette University in 1947.

After leaving Marquette, Heikkinen worked as executive secretary and attorney for Studebaker-Packard Corporation.

He later joined the legal staff at General Motors (GM), retiring in 1978 after 20 years of service in GM's legal department.

Heikkinen also helped initiate and implement a corporation-wide alcohol treatment and education program at General Motors.

Born in Hancock, Michigan, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Heikkinen was the son of Finnish immigrants.

He grew up in Ramsay, Michigan, a heavily Finnish American community in the Gogebic Range area.

Heikkinen's father, Jacob Heikkinen, was a "noted organist" who played at St. Paul's Finnish Lutheran Church.