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Sign up for our email list to be notified when we update the HF Blog. December 11th, 2009
Heisman 101
According to the Heisman website, the trophy is presented annually to the “most outstanding college football player in the United States.” Nowhere does it say the trophy should be presented to the "best offensive player" or the "best player on the best team" by default. The trophy should not be presented as a lifetime achievement award as the Heisman is given out annually to that season’s best player.
It should be possible for a defensive player to win the Heisman, yet only Charles Woodson of Michigan has crossed the chasm to claim the award. Woodson also returned kicks, punts, and played a little wide receiver. But why is the bar so much higher for a defensive guy to get recognition as the most outstanding college football player? You don’t see a running back having to play safety in order to warrant an invite to New York. Quarterbacks don’t have to return punts to be a Heisman finalist. Nowhere does it say the Heisman is an offensive MVP award, so why has a true defensive player never won?
Saturday night Ndamukong Suh attempts to do the unthinkable. The Heisman Trophy looms as the ultimate individual award in a collegiate team sport. Sure Suh has already taken home the Outland, Lombardi, Nagurski, and Bednarik awards, but the Heisman is the Holy Grail. Suh should finish in the top three if you believe StiffArmTrophy.com. He’s leading in first place votes with 87 (to Ingram’s 62 and Gerhart’s 56), but lacking in the number of ballots he’s on compared to Mark Ingram of Alabama (163 vs 181).
If anyone deserves the Heisman besides Ndamukong Suh, it would be Stanford’s Toby Gerhart. This kid is the heart and soul of a scrappy Cardinal team. Without Gerhart, Stanford isn’t very successful this season. Without Ingram, Alabama still plays for the SEC Championship and possibly the national title. Good teams don’t depend on one player. Florida won a national title without Tim Tebow at quarterback and one with him as quarterback. Suh and Gerhart aren’t surrounded by nearly as much talent as Tebow, Ingram, and McCoy. Shouldn’t the bar be higher for good players on great teams and lower for great players on good teams? Instead, it appears to be the opposite. Players on teams ranked outside the Top 10 must overachieve, while a running back on the top ranked team simply can be average.
Upwards of 10% of Heisman ballots were turned in before last weekend’s conference championship games. That is, 10% of Heisman voters had already made up their minds before the season actually ended. Voting for Colt McCoy to win the Heisman before the biggest game of his career seems a bit reckless, as does voting for Tim Tebow before the SEC Conference championship game against Alabama. Anyone who has already made up their mind before all the facts are on the table probably shouldn’t get a vote. Then again, the facts probably wouldn’t have swayed their vote anyway.
Before the Big 12 Championship game, the odds had to be extremely low that Suh would be named a Heisman finalist, just as the odds of him winning the trophy appear low right now. By Saturday night, we’ll know where Suh stands.
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