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Gary Joseph Beban (born August 5, 1946 in Redwood City, California) is a former American football player. Son of an Italian-born mother and a first generation Croatian-American father, Beban won the 1967 Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious award in college football, and the Maxwell Award, while playing quarterback for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins. Beban, known as "The Great One", excelled in both academics and athletics, majoring in European history, and quarterbacking the Bruins across three straight seasons. As UCLA quarterback, he was named to the all-conference team three times, and led the Bruins to a 24-5-2 record. His school record for total offense lasted 15 years. As a sophomore, he threw two touchdown passes in the last four minutes to rally the Bruins over crosstown arch-rival, USC, 20-16. In the 1966 Rose Bowl, Beban scored both UCLA's touchdowns in the Bruin's 14-12 victory over #1 ranked Michigan State. In his senior year, Beban played in the 1967 UCLA-USC game (see 1967 USC vs. UCLA football game) -- widely regarded as one of the best college football games of all time. The game pitted #2 ranked USC and their Heisman Trophy-candidate running back O.J. Simpson, against the #1 Bruins and Beban -- also a Heisman Trophy candidate -- with both the AAWU and National championships, to say nothing of hometown bragging rights, on the line. Badly injured with bruised ribs and in great pain, Beban threw for over 300 yards and two touchdown passes to lead the Bruins in scoring. Though USC eventually won the game, 21-20, by the margin of a blocked PAT, and went on to the Rose Bowl, Gary Beban would go on to win the Heisman Trophy. In addition to the '67 Heisman, Beban was unanimously named to the All-American Team, won the Maxwell Trophy (given annually to the college football player judged best in the United States by a committee of college head coaches, sportscasters, sportswriters, and members of the Maxwell Football Club), and was awarded the Washington Touchdown Club Trophy. Beban was also named a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete, and received the Dolly Cohen award, given to the player best combining academic and football achievement. Though the UCLA football program has turned out dozens of highly successful NFL players through the years, Gary Beban was — and still remains — the only Bruin to win the Heisman. After graduating from UCLA, Beban played in the NFL for the Washington Redskins in 1968 and 1969 -- but, sitting behind veteran quarterback and future NFL Hall-of-Famer Sonny Jurgensen, Beban was not given much game time, and the professional stardom portended by his college career was not forthcoming. In 1970, Gary Beban retired from professional football and went on to become a successful businessman.
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