Too Much Emphasis on National Title in Heisman Voting?
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by Donatevo
Am I the only person who thinks there is entirely too much emphasis placed on winning the National Title, when considering who should win the Heisman? Shouldn't the award go to who we believe is the best college football player, period. I think it should. If he happens to play on an inferior team, I don't care. If he's a running back, it probably means his offensive line isn't as good as the National Champs. If he's a quarterback, he probably doesn't have as many offensive weapons as the National Champs. Let me offer up a few examples.
- 1997 - National Champion: Michigan - Heisman Winner: Charles Woodson, Michigan. This is the same year in which Peyton Manning got 2nd in the voting. Hello?
- 1996 - National Champion: Florida - Heisman Winner: Danny Wuerffel, Florida. This is the same year that Troy Davis gained over 2000 rushing yards in a season...for the second time. No one else has done it twice, ever. Only nine backs have ever done it once.
- 2002 - National Champion: (disputed) Southern Cal - Heisman Winner: Carson Palmer, Southern Cal. Of course many voters were leaning towards Brad Banks (Iowa) as the Heisman front runner, until they lost to Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. But don't forget third place vote getter Larry Johson of Penn State, the ninth person to ever rush for over 2000 yards in a single season. To me, he was the obvious choice. Surely his line wasn't as good as SoCal's or Iowa's.
There are so many other examples where being close to the title, gave a player the nod over players who were clearly (to me at least) more outstanding players. An example that comes to mind is Eric Crouch, Nebraska's all time total offense leader, by the time he left school. Sorry to say this, but as a Missouri fan, I can't help but notice that Brad Smith, who's numbers were better overall than Crouch's, (Smith ended his career 5th in total offense in NCAA history) never got higher than 5th in the heisman rankings.
Oh well, truth be told, Missouri was probably responsible for Crouch getting the honor, when they allowed him to elude a near sack and worm his way 95 yards for a highlight reel TD against their bewildered defense.
Sigh.
