Dandy Dozen: Most undeserving Heisman winners


Reggie Bush gave back his Heisman Trophy. There are a few more that folks would like to see change hands. Not because the players didn't go on to be good pros, but simply because there were better players that season.

Here are 12 nominees for the most undeserving Heisman winners, with some help from the AP Top 25 voters. Notice that Michigan's Charles Woodson, who beat out Peyton Manning in 1997, is NOT on the list?

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1) Paul Hornung, qb, Notre Dame, 1956. The Notre Dame hype machine has produced a few unworthy Heisman winners but none more so than Hornung. He was a great player, but the Irish went 2-8. Any of the next four players in the voting - Johnny Majors from Tennessee, Tom McDonald and Jerry Tubbs from Oklahoma or Syracuse's Jim Brown, who finished FIFTH - would have been more deserving.

2) Archie Griffin, rb, Ohio State, 1975. The only two-time Heisman Trophy winner never should have won his second. Griffin's numbers were down across the board compared to 1974 and three other tailbacks - Cal's Chuck Muncie, USC's Ricky Bell and Pitt's Tony Dorsett - had better seasons.

3) Gino Torretta, qb, Miami, 1992. Good quarterbacks on great teams tend to get too much support from Heisman voters. Torretta is not the only one on this list who falls into that category, but the most glaring. He beat out Marshall Faulk, who was a one-man show at San Diego State, running for 1,630 yards and 15 touchdowns.

"Torretta only threw 19 touchdown passes that season. There's no way a quarterback could win the award with those kind of numbers today.'' John Shinn, The Norman (Okla.) Transcript.

4) Tim Brown, wr, Notre Dame, 1987. Brown was a tremendous player, but he won the Heisman by being a great decoy. He had 990 yards from scrimmage and scored all of seven touchdowns, three of those on punt returns. Meanwhile, quarterback Don McPherson led Syracuse to an undefeated season and Pitt's Craig Heyward ran for more than 1,600 yards.

5) Andre Ware, qb, Houston, 1989. Ware put up crazy numbers in the run-n-shoot (4,699 yards and 44 TD passes). And the Cougars were not afraid to run it up - remember 95-21 against an SMU program in its first season back from the so-called death penalty? The numbers overwhelmed Heisman voters - and NFL scouts - but Indiana's Anthony Thompson ran for 1,793 yards and scored 25 touchdowns and would have been a better pick.

6) John Huarte, qb, Notre Dame, 1964. Considering the era, Huarte's numbers were good: 2,062 yards and 16 touchdown passes for a Notre Dame team that went 9-1. But the guy who finished third, you might have heard of him: Illinois linebacker Dick Butkus.

"That one needs to be revoted.'' Bob Asmussen, the Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette

7) Jason White, qb, Oklahoma, 2003. Good quarterback, great team. White had a huge season, but when he bombed in the BCS title game against LSU, it became very clear that Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the runner-up, or Mississippi's Eli Manning, who finished third, should have won the award.

8) George Rogers, rb, South Carolina, 1980. Rogers was a standout college running back and ran for 1,781 yards, but Herschel Walker was a freshman at Georgia in 1980 and just as good. He finished third in voting behind the guy who really should have won it: Pitt defensive end Hugh Green, the Ndamukong Suh of his time.

9) Matt Leinart, qb, USC, 2004. Better than White and Torretta, but he had so many other stars at his disposal: Bush, LenDale White, Steve Smith and Dwayne Jarrett. Adrian Peterson was the runner-up that season as a freshman. Being a frosh surely didn't help Peterson. Nor did White finishing third and pulling some of the Oklahoma vote away from Peterson.

10) Pat Sullivan, qb, Auburn, 1971. Sullivan and Ed Marinaro, the Cornell running back and future "Hill Street Blues'' star, finished one-two in a fairly close race. Oklahoma tailback Gregg Pruitt ran for 1,665 yards, averaged 9.4 yards per carry, and scored 17 TDs, and really should have won the Heisman.

11) Ron Dayne, rb, Wisconsin, 1999. Dayne had a big year, 1,834 yards and 19 touchdowns, but this was really a career achievement award for breaking the NCAA record for yards rushing. Third-place finisher Michael Vick led Virginia Tech to the national championship game and was truly the best player in the country.

12) Les Horvath, qb, Ohio State, 1944. He led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season, but two sophomores for Army - Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard - finished second and third and had to wait to win their Heismans so the senior Horvath could win his.


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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com

I think Eric Crouch and Chris Weinke should've also been considered...

Woodson should have been on the list as well. Peyton Manning was clearly the best player in 1997...

I disagree with Andre Ware not winning. He was a great college QB.

(09-17-2010 03:11 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  1956. The Notre Dame hype machine has produced a few unworthy Heisman winners but none more so than Hornung. He was a great player, but the Irish went 2-8. Any of the next four players in the voting - Johnny Majors from Tennessee, Tom McDonald and Jerry Tubbs from Oklahoma or Syracuse's Jim Brown, who finished FIFTH - would have been more deserving.

I'd only trust this coming from someone who was alive then and personally remembers that season. It's easy to look at numbers 55 years later and scratch our heads, but we don't understand the context of that campaign.

Quote:4) Tim Brown, wr, Notre Dame, 1987. Brown was a tremendous player, but he won the Heisman by being a great decoy. He had 990 yards from scrimmage and scored all of seven touchdowns, three of those on punt returns. Meanwhile, quarterback Don McPherson led Syracuse to an undefeated season and Pitt's Craig Heyward ran for more than 1,600 yards.

geez, this guy doesn't like notre dame does he? Brown was the best player in the country that year, the only guys close were mike irvin or deion sanders. Ironhead and MacPherson played far softer schedules than those three.

When a Heisman vote is controversial, in hindsight i think it is legit to look at what happened in the NFL, because that can expose a guy who played weak competition in college or was surrounded by teammates who made him look good.

Brown? He caught 1000 balls in the NFL and gained almost 19,000 total yards. He's going in to the NFL Hall of Fame sooner or later. Ironhead and Macpherson? I have no idea what happened to them, they fell off the face of the earth.

On another ND note: the irish were screwed in 1990 when the heisman went to ty detmer, not rocket ismail, who was clearly the better player.

Quote:7) Jason White, qb, Oklahoma, 2003. Good quarterback, great team. White had a huge season, but when he bombed in the BCS title game against LSU, it became very clear that Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the runner-up, or Mississippi's Eli Manning, who finished third, should have won the award.

This one i REALLY agree with. Forget about Eli, he wasn't as good as White that year, but Fitz was EASILY the best college stud that season, never have understood why he didn't win it.

This writer thinks ND should have about 3 fewer winners and Pitt 3 more. Gee, i wonder where he went to school?

(09-17-2010 04:00 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Woodson should have been on the list as well. Peyton Manning was clearly the best player in 1997...

Woodson was the first one I thought of. Not winning the NC hurt Peyton and helped Woodson that year.
CJ

There was also a big anti-Peyton crowd. The pundits had been talking up Peyton Manning all during his career at UT, and there was a segment of the population that was sick of hearing about him, and wanted anybody else. It didn't matter who...

But Tennessee fans expected him to get snubbed too. Paul Hornung beating out Johnny Majors had prepared them for it...

(09-17-2010 09:21 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(09-17-2010 03:11 PM)cuseroc Wrote:  1956. The Notre Dame hype machine has produced a few unworthy Heisman winners but none more so than Hornung. He was a great player, but the Irish went 2-8. Any of the next four players in the voting - Johnny Majors from Tennessee, Tom McDonald and Jerry Tubbs from Oklahoma or Syracuse's Jim Brown, who finished FIFTH - would have been more deserving.

I'd only trust this coming from someone who was alive then and personally remembers that season. It's easy to look at numbers 55 years later and scratch our heads, but we don't understand the context of that campaign.

Funny you say that. Back in the early 80's I worked for an old guy that played with Hornung. He said Hornung was the biggest blowhard, self promoter you would ever meet. He said when they went into a restaurant after a game in high school that Hornung would get pi$$ed if everyone there didn't acknowledge that he had just arrived.
I know I never saw the guy play a down of football in college or the pros but that says all I need to know about what kind of guy Hornung was. If Notre Dame went 2-8 you can d@mn well believe Hornung was still getting his.
CJ

I know lots of people here in Tennessee that were alive back then, and they haven't respected the Heisman since Johnny Majors got passed over by Hornung. Talking about Hornung down here could get a person in trouble in certain areas...

(09-18-2010 09:23 AM)CardinalJim Wrote:  

(09-17-2010 04:00 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Woodson should have been on the list as well. Peyton Manning was clearly the best player in 1997...

Woodson was the first one I thought of. Not winning the NC hurt Peyton and helped Woodson that year.
CJ

If anyone should have gotten the award instead of Woodson, it should have been Randy Moss, not Peyton.

I like Tennessee and Peyton more than Woodson and Michigan, but among the players at big-time programs that year, Woodson was best. He made play after play in big games as Michigan rode out an unbeaten season. In contrast, Peyton failed against Florida and then again against Nebraska. He just didn't produce in the biggest games.

(09-18-2010 09:30 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  There was also a big anti-Peyton crowd. The pundits had been talking up Peyton Manning all during his career at UT, and there was a segment of the population that was sick of hearing about him, and wanted anybody else. It didn't matter who...

But Tennessee fans expected him to get snubbed too. Paul Hornung beating out Johnny Majors had prepared them for it...

It does say something about the talent on that UT team in 97 for Tee Martin to unexpectedly walk in a win it all in '98.
CJ

I myself have never thought of the Heisman as an award for a defensive player. I have always looked at it as the award for the best QB, RB or WR ( usually in that order) in college football. I believe most college football fans feel the same way.
CJ

(09-17-2010 06:32 PM)hawghiggs Wrote:  I disagree with Andre Ware not winning. He was a great college QB.

It's like the guy contradicts himself, panning Toretta due to the numbers, then quibbles about Ware.

(09-17-2010 09:21 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  This writer thinks ND should have about 3 fewer winners and Pitt 3 more. Gee, i wonder where he went to school?

I think he was "spot on" about two of those three and I could care less what he accomplished in the NFL. It's an award for that year in college.

Was Brown the most "versatile" offensive player that year - yes, between his receiving, kickoff/punt returns, and some rushing. And the author of the above shortchanges Brown's overall TOTAL output by just pointing out the yardage gained from scrimmage instead of including the kickoff and punt return yardage which gives him over 1800 yards.

But that total still places Brown 700 yards BEHIND what MacPherson accomplished. So even if one sees the race between the two as being so close you need a "tie-breaker", the tie is usually broken by which team performed better - which was Syracuse that year, not ND.

Instead, the "tie-breakers" were, in reality, the fact that Brown was the pre-season favorite to win the Heisman and that ND hadn't had a Heisman winner in 23 years.

Cheers,
Neil

(09-18-2010 10:01 AM)CardinalJim Wrote:  It does say something about the talent on that UT team in 97 for Tee Martin to unexpectedly walk in a win it all in '98.

Vol fans sing their praises to Clint Stoerner for it too...

I forget who won is 1986, but the best player in the Country was Rod Woodson.

(09-18-2010 11:07 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(09-18-2010 10:01 AM)CardinalJim Wrote:  It does say something about the talent on that UT team in 97 for Tee Martin to unexpectedly walk in a win it all in '98.

Vol fans sing their praises to Clint Stoerner for it too...

Just go down Clint. Just go down.

And the rest, they say, is history...

(09-18-2010 12:13 PM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  I forget who won is 1986, but the best player in the Country was Rod Woodson.

Testaverde won it in 1986. Woodson wasn't even in the top 10 in voting if '86 is the right year. Rod was a three time All-American though. I can't judge where Rod was in relation to other players as I wasn't following the game back then.

Sounds like Rod wasn't even the best two way player that year with Holy Cross's Gordon Lockbaum having the 2nd most 1st place votes. Lockbaum finished 3rd in the voting in '87.

Temple's Paul Palmer was the distant runner-up to Vinny. Temple went 6-5 that year, but is now listed at 0-11 due to use of an ineligible player.

http://www.heisman.com/winners/v-testaverde86.php

Surprised that no one mentioned 1994. In my opinion, Steve McNair was far and away the best football player that year, even though Rashan Salaam won all six Heisman regions easily.

McNair's candidacy took a media beating because he was a I-AA player. I remember more talk that season about how I-AA had their own award (Walter Payton award) and that McNair should be content with that. He was able to get Alcorn St. on ABC at least once and 1-2 games on ESPN because of his skill.

Interestingly, 1987 was the 1st year of the Payton award, which was also the year Lockbaum finished 3rd in the Heisman voting. Holy Cross was I-AA but was the PL did not allow its champ in the playoffs. Lockbaum himself did not win the inaugural Payton award with Kenny Gamble from Colgate (another PL team) picking it up.