O'Rourke and McFadden are members of the College Football Hall of Fame who played during the leather helmet era.

The trophy features two leather helmet replicas of those used by O’Rourke of Boston College and McFadden of Clemson, when they competed against each other in the 1940 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

O'Rourke went on to play quarterback and defensive back for the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Dons, and Baltimore Colts.

O’Rourke later served as commissioner of the Pop Warner League, a national organization of junior football teams.

After one year in the NFL and a stint in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he returned to Clemson and held coaching positions in football, basketball, and track.