Heisman Trophy

"Heisman" redirects here. For the person, see John Heisman.

File:Cappelletti Heisman Trophy.JPG

John Cappelletti's 1973 Heisman Trophy is part of an exhibit at the Penn State All-Sports Museum located at Beaver Stadium, on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University.

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award (often known simply as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman), named after former college football player and coach John Heisman, is awarded annually to the most outstanding collegiate football player in the U.S. Although not the only award honoring the best player in college football, it is considered the most prestigious individual player honor in American college football. It is awarded in December before the postseason bowl games.

The trophy serves in part as a representation of a collegiate player's chances in professional leagues, such as the NFL (to which many Heisman winners go after their collegiate careers). Most Heisman winners have amazingly high stock, and are considered among the absolute best players available on draft day in any given year. However, winning the Heisman Trophy does not guarantee future success at the NFL level. Only eight members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame have won the Heisman, but four winners have also been named Most Valuable Player in a Super Bowl.

The trophy itself is modeled after Ed Smith, a leading player in 1934 for the now defunct New York University football team. The trophy is made out of cast bronze.

Selection

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Official Logo

The prestige in the award stems from a number of factors. Though balloting is open for all football players in all divisions of college football, the winners usually represent Division I FCS schools. The closest that a player outside of the modern Division I FCS came to winning the Heisman is third place. Steve McNair, from Division I FBS Alcorn State, finished third in the voting in 1994. Gordie Lockbaum, from Division I FBS Holy Cross, finished third in the voting in 1987. Archie Griffin of Ohio State is the only player to receive the award twice, winning it as a junior in 1974 and a senior in 1975. (Although Chicago is now a Division III school and Yale and Princeton are now Division I FBS, all three schools were considered major programs at the time their players won the award.) In addition to incredible personal statistics, team achievements play a heavy role in the voting—a typical Heisman winner represents a team that had an outstanding season and was most likely in contention for the national championship at some point in that season.

Balloting

Balloting for the Heisman is selective. The fifty states of the U.S. are split into six regions, and six regional representatives are selected to appoint voters in their states (the regions include the Far West, the Mid Atlantic, Mid West, North East, South, and South West). Each region has 145 media votes, for a total of 870 votes. In addition, all previous Heisman winners may vote, and one final vote is counted through public balloting. The Heisman ballots contain a 3-2-1 point system, in which each ballot ranks the voter's top three players and awards them three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, and one point for a third-place vote. The points are tabulated, and the player with the highest total of points across all ballots wins the Heisman Trophy.

Age

Further prestige is granted by experience: no freshman has ever won the award, Tim Tebow is the only sophomore to win it, and only a few juniors have held the bronze trophy; the rest have been seniors. Before Tebow became the first underclassman to win the award, several came close. Angelo Bertelli, Glenn Davis, Doc Blanchard, Doak Walker, and Herschel Walker all finished in the top three of the Heisman voting as underclassmen before eventually winning the award. Clint Castleberry, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Rex Grossman, Larry Fitzgerald, and Adrian Peterson also received top-three placement as underclassmen, but never won the Heisman. In 2006, Darren McFadden came in second to Troy Smith as a sophomore. The first junior to win the award was Doc Blanchard ("Mr. Inside") for Army in 1945.

Position

The Heisman is frequently awarded to a running back or a quarterback; very few players have won the trophy playing at a different position. Charles Woodson is the only primarily defensive player to win the award, doing so as a defensive back for the University of Michigan in 1997. No offensive linemen have ever won the award, although guard Tom Brown of Minnesota (who went on to be a defensive linemen in the Canadian Football League) and offensive tackle John Hicks of Ohio State placed second in 1960 and 1973 respectively.

Regional bias controversy

A number of critics have expressed concern about the "unwritten rules" regarding player position and age, as noted above. But over the years, there has been substantial criticism that the Heisman balloting process has ignored West Coast players. From 1982 (Marcus Allen) to 2002 (Carson Palmer), not a single PAC-10 or other West Coast player won the Heisman Trophy. Of course, three USC players have won the trophy in the early years of the 21st century, but no non-USC player from the West Coast has won since Stanford's Jim Plunkett in 1970.

The "West Coast bias" discussion usually centers on the idea that East Coast voters see few West Coast games, because of television coverage contracts, time-zone differences, or cultural interest. At Heisman-projection website StiffArmTrophy.com, commentator Kari Chisholm notes that the Heisman balloting process itself is inherently biased:

For Heisman voting purposes, the nation is divided into six regions—each of which get 145 votes. Put another way, each region gets exactly 16.66 percent of the votes. (Every living Heisman winner also gets a vote, but that's a good thing we'll set aside for this discussion.) Unfortunately for the Heisman folks, the regions don't break down nicely into 1/6 of the population each. Instead, three regions (Far West, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic) have more population than that—and three have less (Northeast, South, and Southwest). In fact, the Far West has the greatest population at 21.1% of the country and the Northeast has the least—11.9%.

There has also been controversy over the years about a perceived bias against players who play in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) by critics who note the relatively small number of winners from that region.

History

File:Rashaan Salaam-Heisman.JPG

Rashaan Salaam's Heisman Trophy

The award was first presented in 1935 by the Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan, New York, a privately owned recreation facility near the site of the former World Trade Center. The first winner, Jay Berwanger, was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles but declined to sign for them. He never played professional football for any team.

The first black player to win the Heisman was Ernie Davis of Syracuse. Tragically, he never played a snap in the NFL, as he was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after winning the award, and died in 1963.

The award ceremony was subsequently hosted by the New York Marriott Marquis, the Yale Club, The Hilton New York and as of 2005 is held at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. The award is presented independently from the annual College Football Awards ceremony (where most other related awards are presented). The Heisman Trophy's new home, the Sports Museum of America, is expected to open in 2008.

The Heisman Trophy is currently manufactured by MTM Recognition in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Winners and runners-up

An asterisk (*) indicates players who were also the first overall selection in the National Football League Draft.
A double asterisk (**) indicates players who have earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Year	Winner	School	Position	Points	Runner-up	School	Position	Points
1935	Jay Berwanger*	Chicago	Halfback	84	Charles R. "Monk" Meyer	Army	Halfback	29
1936	Larry Kelley	Yale	End	219	Sam Francis	Nebraska	Halfback	47
1937	Clint Frank	Yale	Halfback	524	“Whizzer” White	Colorado	Halfback	264
1938	Davey O’Brien	TCU	Quarterback	519	Marshall Goldberg	Pittsburgh	Halfback	294
1939	Nile Kinnick	University of Iowa	Halfback	651	Tom Harmon	Michigan	Halfback	405
1940	Tom Harmon*	Michigan	Halfback	1,303	John Kimbrough	Texas A&M	Fullback	841
1941	Bruce Smith	Minnesota	Halfback	554	Angelo Bertelli	Notre Dame	Quarterback	345
1942	Frank Sinkwich*	Georgia	Halfback	1,059	Paul Governali	Columbia	Quarterback	218
1943	Angelo Bertelli*	Notre Dame	Quarterback	648	Bob Odell	Pennsylvania	Halfback	177
1944	Les Horvath	Ohio State	Quarterback/Halfback	412	Glenn Davis	Army	Halfback	287
1945	Doc Blanchard	Army	Fullback	860	Glenn Davis	Army	Halfback	683
1946	Glenn Davis	Army	Halfback	792	Charlie Trippi	Georgia	Halfback	435
1947	Johnny Lujack	Notre Dame	Quarterback	742	Bob Chappuis	Michigan	Halfback	555
1948	Doak Walker**	SMU	Halfback	778	Charlie Justice	North Carolina	Halfback	443
1949	Leon Hart*	Notre Dame	End	995	Charlie Justice	North Carolina	Halfback	274
1950	Vic Janowicz	Ohio State	Halfback/Safety	633	Kyle Rote	SMU	Halfback	280
1951	Dick Kazmaier	Princeton	Halfback	1,777	Hank Lauricella	Tennessee	Halfback	424
1952	Billy Vessels	Oklahoma	Halfback	525	Jack Scarbath	Maryland	Quarterback	367
1953	Johnny Lattner	Notre Dame	Halfback	1,850	Paul Giel	Minnesota	Quarterback	1,794
1954	Alan Ameche	Wisconsin	Fullback	1,068	Kurt Burris	Oklahoma	Center	838
1955	Howard Cassady	Ohio State	Halfback	2,219	Jim Swink	TCU	Halfback	742
1956	Paul Hornung* **	Notre Dame	Quarterback	1,066	Johnny Majors	Tennessee	Halfback	994
1957	John David Crow	Texas A&M	Halfback	1,183	Alex Karras	Iowa	Defensive Tackle	693
1958	Pete Dawkins	Army	Halfback	1,394	Randy Duncan	Iowa	Quarterback	1,021
1959	Billy Cannon*	LSU	Halfback	1,929	Richie Lucas	Penn State	Quarterback	613
1960	Joe Bellino	Navy	Halfback	1,793	Tom Brown	Minnesota	Guard	731
1961	Ernie Davis*	Syracuse	Halfback	824	Bob Ferguson	Ohio State	Fullback	771
1962	Terry Baker*	Oregon State	Quarterback	707	Jerry Stovall	LSU	Halfback	618
1963	Roger Staubach**	Navy	Quarterback	1,860	Billy Lothridge	Georgia Tech	Quarterback	504
1964	John Huarte	Notre Dame	Quarterback	1,026	Jerry Rhome	Tulsa	Quarterback	952
1965	Mike Garrett	USC	Halfback	926	Howard Twilley	Tulsa	End	528
1966	Steve Spurrier	Florida	Quarterback	1,679	Bob Griese	Purdue	Quarterback	816
1967	Gary Beban	UCLA	Quarterback	1,968	O.J. Simpson	USC	Halfback	1,722
1968	O.J. Simpson* **	USC	Halfback	2,853	Leroy Keyes	Purdue	Halfback/Wide Receiver	1,103
1969	Steve Owens	Oklahoma	Halfback	1,488	Mike Phipps	Purdue	Quarterback	1,334
1970	Jim Plunkett*	Stanford	Quarterback	2,229	Joe Theismann	Notre Dame	Quarterback	1,410
1971	Pat Sullivan	Auburn	Quarterback	1,597	Ed Marinaro	Cornell	Running Back	1,445
1972	Johnny Rodgers	Nebraska	Wingback	1,310	Greg Pruitt	Oklahoma	Running back	966
1973	John Cappelletti	Penn State	Running Back	1,057	John Hicks	Ohio State	Offensive Tackle	524
1974	Archie Griffin	Ohio State	Running Back	1,920	Anthony Davis	USC	Running Back	819
1975	Archie Griffin	Ohio State	Running Back	1,800	Chuck Muncie	California	Running Back	730
1976	Tony Dorsett**	Pitt	Running Back	2,357	Ricky Bell*	USC	Running Back	1,346
1977	Earl Campbell* **	Texas	Running Back	1,547	Terry Miller	Oklahoma State	Running Back	773
1978	Billy Sims*	Oklahoma	Running Back	827	Chuck Fusina	Penn State	Quarterback	750
1979	Charles White	USC	Running Back	1,695	Billy Sims	Oklahoma	Running Back	773
1980	George Rogers*	South Carolina	Running Back	1,128	Hugh Green	Pittsburgh	Defensive End	861
1981	Marcus Allen**	USC	Running Back	1,797	Herschel Walker	Georgia	Running Back	1,199
1982	Herschel Walker	Georgia	Running Back	1,926	John Elway* **	Stanford	Quarterback	1,231
1983	Mike Rozier	Nebraska	Running Back	1,801	Steve Young**	BYU	Quarterback	1,172
1984	Doug Flutie	Boston College	Quarterback	2,240	Keith Byars	Ohio State	Running Back	1,251
1985	Bo Jackson*	Auburn	Running Back	1,509	Chuck Long	University of Iowa	Quarterback	1,464
1986	Vinny Testaverde*	Miami	Quarterback	2,213	Paul Palmer	Temple	Running Back	672
1987	Tim Brown	Notre Dame	Wide Receiver	1,442	Don McPherson	Syracuse	Quarterback	831
1988	Barry Sanders**	Oklahoma State	Running Back	1,878	Rodney Peete	USC	Quarterback	912
1989	Andre Ware	Houston	Quarterback	1,073	Anthony Thompson	Indiana	Running Back	1,003
1990	Ty Detmer	BYU	Quarterback	1,482	Raghib Ismail	Notre Dame	Wide Receiver	1,177
1991	Desmond Howard	Michigan	Wide Receiver	2,077	Casey Weldon	Florida State	Quarterback	503
1992	Gino Torretta	Miami	Quarterback	1,400	Marshall Faulk	San Diego State	Running Back	1,080
1993	Charlie Ward	Florida State	Quarterback	1,743	Heath Shuler	Tennessee	Quarterback	688
1994	Rashaan Salaam	Colorado	Running Back	1,743	Ki-Jana Carter*	Penn State	Running Back	901
1995	Eddie George	Ohio State	Running Back	1,460	Tommie Frazier	Nebraska	Quarterback	1,196
1996	Danny Wuerffel	Florida	Quarterback	1,363	Troy Davis	Iowa State	Running Back	1,174
1997	Charles Woodson	Michigan	Cornerback	1,815	Peyton Manning*	Tennessee	Quarterback	1,543
1998	Ricky Williams	Texas	Running Back	2,355	Michael Bishop	Kansas State	Quarterback	792
1999	Ron Dayne	Wisconsin	Running Back	2,042	Joe Hamilton	Georgia Tech	Quarterback	994
2000	Chris Weinke	Florida State	Quarterback	1,628	Josh Heupel	Oklahoma	Quarterback	1,552
2001	Eric Crouch	Nebraska	Quarterback	770	Rex Grossman	Florida	Quarterback	708
2002	Carson Palmer*	USC	Quarterback	1,328	Brad Banks	Iowa	Quarterback	1,095
2003	Jason White	Oklahoma	Quarterback	1,481	Larry Fitzgerald	Pitt	Wide Receiver	1,353
2004	Matt Leinart	USC	Quarterback	1,325	Adrian L. Peterson	Oklahoma	Running Back	997
2005	Reggie Bush	USC	Running Back	2,541	Vince Young	Texas	Quarterback	1,608
2006	Troy Smith	Ohio State	Quarterback	2,540	Darren McFadden	Arkansas	Running Back	878
2007	Tim Tebow	Florida	Quarterback	1,957	Darren McFadden	Arkansas	Running Back	1,703

Winners by position

Position	Winners
Running Back	51
Quarterback	26
Fullback	2
End	2
Wide Receiver	2
Defensive Back	1

Trophies won by school

School	Winners
Notre Dame	7
Ohio State	7
USC	7
Oklahoma	4
Army	3
Florida	3
Michigan	3
Nebraska	3
Auburn	2
Florida State	2
Georgia	2
Miami	2
Navy	2
Texas	2
Wisconsin	2
Yale	2
BYU	1
Boston College	1
Colorado	1
Chicago	1
Houston	1
Iowa	1
LSU	1
Minnesota	1
Oklahoma State	1
Oregon State	1
Penn State	1
Pittsburgh	1
Princeton	1
South Carolina	1
SMU	1
Stanford	1
Syracuse	1
Texas A&M	1
TCU	1
UCLA	1

External links

• The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award website
• StiffArmTrophy.com (attempts to project the Heisman Trophy winner through "exit polls" of actual Heisman voters)
• HeismanPundit.com (commentary and discussion)