Ralph Heikkinen - Professional Football

Professional Football

Heikkinen signed on as an assistant coach at Michigan in the spring 1939 initially expressing ambivalence about playing professional football. Then, on September 9, 1939 he had accepted an offer to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the NFL. Heikkinen had previously refused offers to play pro football, but the persistence of coach Potsy Clark, and Crisler’s assurance that a coaching job would be open for him in 1940, persuaded Heikkinen to try professional football. Heikkinen noted on signing, though, that he would definitely return to law school in 1940. It was reported that Heikkinen signed a contract for “at least $175 a game” with the Dodgers. Heikkinen was cut by the Dodgers after playing only three games.

When Heikkinen was released, one writer noted that Heikkinen “was perhaps the biggest disappointment among the highly ballyhooed players who came up this season.” Brooklyn’ coach Clark noted that that an “All-American man doesn’t mean a thing to us” in the NFL. Clark said: “Heikkinen weighed only 183 pounds and was pretty light for our league. He reported late and didn’t give himself a fair chance to show me what he could do. I just didn’t think he was in the right physical shape and mental shape.

The Upper Peninsula press disputed accounts that Heikkinen had not cut it in the NFL. Heikkinen’s friends said that Heikkinen asked for his own release in order to accept the opportunity to study law and coach football at the University of Virginia. One Upper Peninsula paper reported: “Had Heikkinen wanted to, he still could be a member of the Brooklyn squad. However, the Dodgers moguls co-operated with Ralph and released him from his contract when he informed them of the Virginia offer.”