Ring of Honor Induction – 2023
Eddie Hanna (Class of 1943)
“Twinkle Toes” Hanna remembered for his prowess on the field and larger than life personality off the field.
Eddie Hanna was a member of the first undefeated (and untied) football team in DCHS history. The 1942 Red Demons went (9-0) and finished the season ranked #2 in the state. More importantly he lived a lot of life in a very short span of time.
Hanna, a star halfback on the Colorado A&M football team, left the opening game of the 1949 season with pain in his chest. By the time the train had arrived back in Fort Collins – Eddie had died.
Hanna died on Sept. 17, 1949, at 24 years old. His No. 21 jersey has never been worn since by a Colorado State University football player.
Hanna’s history is remarkable, not just because of his transcendent talent.
“He’s one of those guys that, for years, I’ve tried to keep his memory alive because he’s such a story,” said CSU athletic historian John Hirn, who dedicated a section to Hanna in his book “From Aggies to Rams: The History of Football at Colorado State University.”
The undersized Hanna — just 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds — served in the Pacific during World War II with the Eighth Air Force before returning to play for Dodge City Junior College. He then transferred to Colorado A&M and made an instant impact.
Hanna was one of two black players on the 1947 Colorado A&M team (along with George Jones) at a time when many college teams were still all white. Racism persisted, especially during some of Colorado A&M’s travels. When the team played at Utah in Salt Lake City, the black players weren’t allowed to stay in the same hotel as the rest of the team. It never seemed to get Hanna down.
It would be naive to think Hanna didn’t face racism in Fort Collins, but he appeared to be mostly well-regarded on campus. He hosted a radio show and was a frequent source of admiring prose in the Rocky Mountain Collegian, the student newspaper.
The Collegian first referred to Hanna as “Twinkle Toes” for his elusiveness as a runner on Oct. 17, 1947, after a star performance in a 13-13 tie against the University of Denver. The name stuck, with references to “Twinkle Toes” Hanna coming in nearly every other reference to the running back in the paper throughout his time at the school.
Dodge City High School
DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS
www.dchssports.com | @RedDemonSports
Star status really came in 1948. Hanna helped Colorado A&M beat Colorado at the end of the season to snap a 12-game losing skid against the rival school. The Aggies, at 8-2, were picked to play against Occidental in the Raisin Bowl, the first bowl game in school history. The Aggies lost 21-20, but Hanna cemented superstar notoriety with two bowl-record touchdown runs of 71 and 79 yards. [Interestingly, the movie – “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” was filmed using shots from the 1949 Raisin Bowl.]
Winning seemed to follow Hanna. He was part of an undefeated team at Dodge City High School in 1942, and the Aggies' turnaround started when he came to the school and the team went 13-7-1 in his two full seasons. They went 9-1 in 1949, the season in which he died.
Hanna was voted all-conference by the Collegian in 1948 and seemed sure to continue his ascendance in 1949 on a path toward professional football.
His sudden death shocked the team, who had to ride the train back to Fort Collins with their fallen teammate. There wasn't an official cause of death released for the seemingly healthy athlete, although cardiac arrest was suspected.
The Collegian paid tribute to Hanna with a front-page editorial before his funeral back home in Kansas.
“The Eddie Hanna legend does not stop or even start with a simple review of gridiron statistics. It starts with Eddie Hanna the student, friend and teammate,” the editorial said. “It is to the eternal credit of Colorado A & M that Eddie Hanna was one of us.”
A scholarship in Hanna’s name was started immediately after his death. Teammates and A&M Student President Roy Romer (who later served as Colorado’s governor) attended Hanna’s funeral in Kansas.
CSU has only two retired numbers, in Hanna and the No. 48 of Thurman "Fum" McGraw. His number is also memorialized on the press box at Canvas Stadium.
Hanna is being honored in the presence of his two remaining sisters, Linda (DCHS Class of 1956) and Mary (DCHS Class of 1949).
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