The inspiration for the “Man of the Year” sports awards program came from a question posed by Royal Brougham in his Seattle Post-Intelligencer column of Feb. 23, 1936. “Who,” Brougham asked his readers, “had the most impact on local sports in 1935?” After a month of voting, Brougham announced the first Man of the Year winner on March 11, 1936. The following individuals won the award through 1976, after which the name of the program was changed to Sports Star of the Year.
| YEAR | WINNER | SPORT | SKINNY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Bobby Morris | Referee | Refereed eight Rose Bowls, including ’35 |
| 1936 | Al Ulbrickson | Rowing | His UW eight won 1936 gold in Berlin |
| 1937 | John Cherberg | Coach | Coached Cleveland to city football title |
| 1938 | Fred Hutchinson | Baseball | 25-game winner for Seattle Rainiers |
| 1939 | Dean McAdams | Football | Best player on ’39 UW football team |
| 1940 | Dick Barrett | Baseball | 24-5 record, pitched Rainiers to pennant |
| 1941 | Click Clark | Trainer | 28 years as UW athletic trainer |
| 1942 | Ted Garhart | Rowing | Stroked UW crew to undefeated season |
| 1943 | Hec Edmundson | Basketball | UW basketball team had 24-7 record |
| 1944 | Jim McCurdy | Football | Led UW to 1944 Rose Bowl vs. USC |
| 1945 | Harry Givan | Golf | NW star created Seattle Open |
| 1946 | Steve Morrisey | Sportsman | Pressed for conservation reforms |
| 1947 | Leon Brigham | Administrator | Athletic director of Seattle high schools |
| 1948 | George Pocock | Rowing | Designed revolutionary race shells |
| 1949 | Gordon Glisson | Horse Racing | Took Santa Anita by storm in 1948-49 |
| 1950 | Stan Sayers | Hydros | Won the 1950 Gold Cup hydroplane race |
| 1951 | Hugh McElhenny | Football | First-team All-America by the AP |
| 1952 | Johnny O’Brien | Basketball | 1st collegian to score 1,000 points |
| 1953 | Arnie Weinmeister | Football | Named All-NFL for the fourth time |
| 1954 | Arnold Riegger | Sportsman | Won 1954 Grand American Trapshoot |
| 1955 | Pat Lesser | Golf | Captured U.S. Women’s Amateur |
| 1956 | P. Rademacher | Boxing | Heavyweight boxing gold in Melbourne |
| 1957 | J. Gunderson | Golf | Won U.S. Women’s Amateur at age 18 |
| 1958 | Elgin Baylor | Basketball | 31.2 points, 19.8 rebounds for Seattle U. |
| 1959 | Jim Owens | Basketball | Coached UW to 44-8 win in Rose Bowl |
| 1960 | Don McKeta | Football | Led UW to 17-7 win in Rose Bowl |
| 1961 | Anne Quast | Golf | Won second U.S. Women’s Amateur |
| 1962 | Bill Muncey | Hydros | Won prestigious Gold Cup race |
| 1963 | Brian Sternberg | Track | Broke world pole vault record 3 times |
| Jim Whitaker | Outdoorsman | First American to summit Mount Everest | |
| 1964 | Rick Redman | Football | Led UW to Rose Bowl vs. Illinois |
| 1965 | John Goodwin | Coach | Led Seattle Prep to No. 1 football ranking |
| 1966 | Eddie Cotton | Golf | Ended career fighting for light-heavy title |
| 1967 | Harvey Lanman | Administrator | Installed artificial turf in Memorial Stadium |
| 1968 | Kaye Hall | Swimming | Won two golds at 1968 Summer Olympics |
| 1969 | Tommy Harper | Baseball | Starred for the expansion Seattle Pilots |
| 1970 | Doris Heritage | Track | SPU track star set several world records |
| 1971 | Lynn Colella | Swimming | Won 2 golds at Pan Am Games |
| Rick Colella | Swimming | Won 1 gold at Pan Am Games | |
| 1972 | Tom Gorman | Tennis | Achieved No. 2 U.S. national tennis rank |
| 1973 | Spencer Haywood | Basketball | Averaged 26.2 points, NBA All-Star |
| Bill Fenton | Softball | Led Pay ‘n Pak in national fastpitch | |
| Calvin Jones | Football | AP football All-America, UW Player of Year | |
| 1974 | Earl Anthony | Bowling | First to win $100,000 on PBA tour |
| 1975 | Marv Harshman | Coach | Coached U.S. to gold in Pan Am Games |
| 1976 | Slick Watts | Basketball | First Sonic on All-Defensive team |
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Star Of The Year Winners (1977-10)
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All-Time Nominees