Heisman Trophy
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award, or simply known as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman, is the most prestigious award in college football handed annually to the most outstanding college football player in the U.S. The Heisman Trophy was named after the late John William Heisman, a prominent American football player and college football coach in the early era of the sport. The trophy 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.
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[edit] Trophy History and Design
The award, formerly known as the DAC Trophy, was an idea of the Downtown Athletic Club to formally hand out an individual award to the most outstanding college football player. It was designed and created by renowned sculptor and National Academy Prize Winner, Frank Eliscu after several consultations with prominent personalities, notably Jim Crowley (one of the legendary Four Horseman of Notre Dame). The model to which the trophy was patterned is Ed Smith, a leading player on the 1934 New York University football team. The final product is made out of cast bronze depicting a skilled and sinewed football player, sidestepping, and straight arming his way downfield to a mythical touchdown! The statue is 14" long, 13 ½ high and weighs 25 pounds.
In 1936, with the passing of John Heisman, the award was renamed as the Heisman Memorial Trophy as a fitting tribute to the memory of the distinguished American athlete and inventive football genius. In 1968, the Heisman Trophy Committee voted to award two trophies each year - one to the winner and to the college or university he represents.
[edit] Selection
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 IA schools. The closest that a player outside of the modern Division I-A came to winning the Heisman is third place. Steve McNair, from Division I-AA Alcorn State, finished third in the voting in 1994. Gordie Lockbaum, from Division I-AA Holy Cross, finished third in the voting in 1987. (Although Chicago is now a Division III school and Yale and Princeton are now Division I-AA, 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.
[edit] Age Consistencies
Further prestige is granted by experience: - no freshmen or sophomores have ever won the award, and only a few juniors have held the bronze trophy; the rest have been seniors. While no freshmen or sophomores have ever won the Heisman, several have come 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, and in 2007 he will be the only active college player with top-three Heisman placement as an underclassmen. The first junior to win the award was Doc Blanchard ("Mr. Inside") for Army in 1945.
[edit] Position Consistencies
Finally, 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.
[edit] Balloting
Balloting for the Heisman is selective. Six sectional representatives, were selected to be part of the Heisman Trophy Trust to govern the policies and procedures by which the balloting process is conducted. The sectional representatives will appoint State Representatives who will be selecting the voters within their particular state. The amount of votes that a particular state is allotted depends on the size of the state and the amount of media outlets within that state. Bigger states such as California and Texas will naturally have more votes than smaller states such as Vermont and Delaware.
The fifty states of U.S.A. are divided into six sections:
- Far West: AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, ND, NV, OR, SD, UT, WA, WY
- Mid Atlantic: DC, DE, MD, NC, NJ, PA, SC, VA, WV
- Mid West: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI
- North East: CT, MA, ME, NH, NYC, NY, RI, VT
- South: AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, TN
- Southwest: AR, CO, KS, MO, NE, NM, OK, TX
Each section accounts for 145 media votes, or 870 media votes overall. Previous Heisman winners will be voting as well. In addition, one final vote is counted through public balloting. Every ballot must be signed and must contain three names (to eliminate favoritism) for it to be valid. The three names correspond to the voter's first, second, and third choices. The 3-2-1 point system is implemented in the tallying of votes with the first choice getting 3 votes, the second, 2 and the third, 1. The player with the highest total of points across all ballots wins the Heisman Trophy.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Winners by position
| Position | Winners |
|---|---|
| Halfback, Running Back or Wingback | 40 |
| Quarterback | 24 |
| Fullback | 2 |
| End | 2 |
| Wide Receiver | 2 |
| Defensive Back | 1 |
| Quarterback/Halfback | 1 |
[edit] Winners by school
| School | Winners |
|---|---|
| Notre Dame | 7 |
| Ohio State | 7 |
| USC (Southern California) | 7 |
| Oklahoma | 4 |
| Army | 3 |
| Michigan | 3 |
| Nebraska | 3 |
| Auburn | 2 |
| Florida | 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 |
| Southern Methodist | 1 |
| Stanford | 1 |
| Syracuse | 1 |
| Texas A&M | 1 |
| TCU | 1 |
| UCLA | 1 |
[edit] References
[edit] External Links
| Heisman Trophy Winners |
|---|
| 1935: Berwanger | 1936: Kelley | 1937: Frank | 1938: O'Brien | 1939: Kinnick | 1940: Harmon | 1941: B. Smith | 1942: Sinkwich | 1943: Bertelli | 1944: Horvath | 1945: Blanchard | 1946: G. Davis | 1947: Lujack | 1948: D. Walker | 1949: Hart | 1950: Janowicz | 1951: Kazmaier | 1952: Vessels | 1953: Lattner | 1954: Ameche | 1955: Cassady | 1956: Hornung | 1957: Crow | 1958: Dawkins | 1959: Cannon | 1960: Bellino | 1961: E. Davis | 1962: Baker | 1963: Staubach | 1964: Huarte | 1965: Garrett | 1966: Spurrier | 1967: Beban | 1968: Simpson | 1969: Owens | 1970: Plunkett | 1971: Sullivan | 1972: Rodgers | 1973: Cappelletti | 1974: Griffin | 1975: Griffin | 1976: Dorsett | 1977: Campbell | 1978: Sims | 1979: C. White | 1980: Rogers | 1981: Allen | 1982: H. Walker | 1983: Rozier | 1984: Flutie | 1985: Jackson | 1986: Testaverde | 1987: Brown | 1988: Sanders | 1989: Ware | 1990: Detmer | 1991: Howard | 1992: Torretta | 1993: Ward | 1994: Salaam | 1995: George | 1996: Wuerffel | 1997: Woodson | 1998: Williams | 1999: Dayne | 2000: Weinke | 2001: Crouch | 2002: Palmer | 2003: J. White | 2004: Leinart | 2005: Bush | 2006: T. Smith | 2007: Tebow |
