There are some people who do not see the Heisman in a high esteem. There are many, who feel that the voting system is archaic, that the award no longer honors its title and that it is a shadow of what it used to be, that the award now goes to the best skilled player on the best team. I see the points and I understand the line of thought. But I don’t subscribe to that line of thought. I am a traditionalist when it comes to College Football because tradition is what makes College Football. That is the reason I will neve clammor for a Playoff. Some of my ideas are far from traditional, like my thinking that the NCAA should just be blown off the face of the planet. But the NCAA is not a tradition and they have done nothing to preserve the tradition of any of the sports they oversee…
Sorry…
Back to the topic at hand If people choose to ignore the trohpy that is fine. It has been transformed into a vessel of constant hype and speculation that carries for the length of the College Football season. ESPN has orchestrated these moves since they took control of the rights to broadcast the presentation. But that is what they do, they are the best in the business for a reason, because they do everything better than their compeitors. ESPN does posses undue influence upon the outcome of the trophy, but that is not the fault of the Worldwide Leader, that falls upon the voting system which is more than slightly out of touch with reality. Most of the voters for the Heisman do not watch all of the people in the race for the trophy. Most are writers who vote are assigned to an area and rarely have the the time, or the interest to look outside their region to give a fair an balanced assesment of what is going on with all the players in the race. ESPN gets everyone up to speed on what the players are doing between the lines. Often Kirk Heirbstreit, Lee Corso, Lou Holtz and Mark May will weigh in with their opinions on who stands where in the race. The misconception that springs up in fan bases across the nation is that Herbstreit and Co. are activly seeking voters to side with “their” guy. Outrage insues by the rabid fan bases across the nation. The talking heads on ESPN are paid to give their opinion by the network to give their opinions, that is their job title, and the entire cast does their job well. Again, they are the best in the business for a reason. There is a large percentage of voters who simply tune into ESPN to formulate their opinions of the trophy. That is not the fault of the Worldwide Leader. That is the fault of the voters who are too damn lazy to do their job and look into the sport independantly to create their own opinion from scratch, not a different one that was expounded upon by another person who did the job that they were supposed to do.
It is difficult to say if a player can win the Heisman without the media coverage that ESPN provides. To say the least, you can’t win the Heisman without having people talking about you. If you are a good player on a good team your name will be in print a lot. That enforces the point that you can’t win the Heisman without being on a good team. But there also has to be a buzz about that player. The usual method is to mail a DVD or information packet to the voters to put that player into their minds. But there are also other methods. Everyone remembers the attempt of Oregon to place Joey Harrington in the minds eye of the nation. Everyone does it, not all to the Phil Knight funded extent of Oregon, but everyone partakes.
I think that there are a couple of guidelines required to be in contention for the Heisman. First you need to be the best player, or a close second, on a good team. You need to play in a major conference. It has been 17 years since a team outside a major conference has won the Heisman. Sorry Colt Brennan, you won’t end that streak this season. most importantly the player has to have great support from the athletic department, specificly from the sports information offense. Previous experience is perferable, think USC on that one. One thing to remember is that a high placement one year does not mean you will do better the next, think Adrian Peterson. With these factors in mind I present my top 10 for the Heisman…in July…in no order
- John David Booty
- Ray Rice
- Steve Slaton
- Pat White
- Darren McFadden
- Chad Henne
- Mike Hart
- Colt Brennan
- Jon Stewart
- DeSean Jackson
