NEW YORK (AP) – The original plaster cast of the Heisman Trophy, the model used for the award given annually to the nation’s top college football player, sold at auction Saturday for $228,000.

The cast was put up for sale by the family of Frank Eliscu, the artist who came up with the familiar design of a twisting runner, the ball tucked in his left arm and his right arm extended to ward off imaginary tacklers.

The identity of the buyer was not immediately make public.

Eliscu was 23 when members of the Downtown Athletic Club selected him to design their trophy in 1935. He received a $200 fee for creating the iconic award, which was his first commissioned work.

Among those who have won the Heisman Trophy are Barry Sanders, Roger Staubach, Ricky Williams and Doug Flutie. The actual trophy is cast in bronze.

Eliscu’s later efforts ranged in scale from the inaugural medals of President Gerald Ford and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to the “Cascade of Books” above the entrance to the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress.

The auction was held on the same day that this year’s Heisman was handed out in Manhattan.

The auction’s other top lot, the uniform worn by Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio during his rookie season with the New York Yankees, failed to find a buyer.

The pre-sale estimate for the uniform, bearing No. 9 rather than DiMaggio’s familiar No. 5, was expected to bring in more than $600,000.

AP-ES-12-10-05 1742EST