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The Heisman Trophy rewards the best player in college football - in theory, at least. In actual practice, several winners of the award had dubious credentials at best.
The Heisman Trophy winner doesn't necessarily have to achieve success at the NFL level in order to "validate" the award. That's not what the Heisman is for. But it should reward the best player in college football, regardless of position. Too often, it only rewards the quarterback who happens to play for the best team in college football. I'd love to see some linebackers and offensive linemen winning this award, but I doubt that day will come anytime soon.
Here's a rundown of the seven worst Heisman Trophy winners of all time. None of these players had bad seasons, they just didn't achieve enough to rightfully claim college football's highest individual honor.
7. Gary Beban (UCLA, 1967)
As far as I can tell, Gary Beban won the Heisman merely for playing through injuries. It certainly can't be because of his passing numbers, which amounted to less than 1,500 yards and as many interceptions and touchdowns during the 1967 campaign. You have to wonder what made voters pick Beban over O.J. Simpson, who guided USC to the national championship that season, which included a crucial victory over Beban's Bruins.
6. Jason White (Oklahoma, 2003)
Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh was the most dominant player in college football in 2003. No reasonable college football observer would argue otherwise. Except, apparently, for the Heisman voters.
White had a good season but he wasn't nearly as good as Fitzgerald, making him an undeserving winner. Fitzgerald was totally dominant, routinely going up into triple coverage and pulling the ball down. White, meanwhile, was so good that he wasn't even drafted. A guy named Eli Manning finished third in the voting. White was the worst choice of the three.
5. George Rogers (South Carolina, 1980)
Another good pick for the list of worst Heisman Trophy winners is running back George Rogers. Rogers benefited from a weak field in 1980 to claim the trophy ahead of freshman Herschel Walker of Georgia. Another good contender was defensive lineman Hugh Green, who was denied the award because Heisman voters just can't bring themselves to give the trophy to defensive players. Jim McMahon also put up huge passing numbers (47 TDs) for BYU.
4. Gino Torretta (Miami, 1992)
Toretta is the textbook case of a quarterback from the best team in football winning the award by default because lazy Heisman voters didn't care to look any further. While Torretta's 3,060 yards and 132.8 passer rating were very good, Marshall Faulk of San Diego State and Garrison Hearst of Georgia both put up big numbers at the running back position. Either would've been a better Heisman Trophy winner, but Torretta benefited from playing for one of the best teams in the country.
3. Paul Hornung (Notre Dame, 1956)
Try to imagine a player from a 2-8 team winning the Heisman Trophy today. It would never happen, given the Heisman committee's misguided belief that the winner has to come from a dominant team. It should be perfectly fine to reward a player from a mediocre team. Still, two and eight? Johnny Majors and Jim Brown were among the other candidates who might have been better Heisman Trophy choices.
2. Rashaan Salaam (Colorado, 1994)
Salaam won the trophy only because of the antiquated notion that "If you rush for 2,000 yards, you have to win the Heisman!" Salaam's season was not nearly as impressive as that of Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter, who averaged a ridiculous 7.8 yards per carry but pocketed fewer yards than Salaam because he was taken out of nearly every game early, since his undefeated Nittany Lions were always way ahead. Neither Salaam nor Carter had much success at the NFL level, however.
Another more-worthy trophy winner would have been Steve McNair of Alcorn State, who tore up the record books with 44 touchdown passes and almost 6,000 yards of passing and rushing offense.
1. Eric Crouch (Nebraska, 2001)
Eric Crouch is easily the worst Heisman Trophy winner of all time. The Cornhusker quarterback passed for just 1,510 yards and had a ratio of 7 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. That's pathetic for a major-university starting QB and represents some of the worst numbers ever for a Heisman-winning QB. It's true that Crouch rushed for another 1,115 yards, but that hardly makes up for his abysmal passing numbers. Even worse is that Crouch beat out a number of other very good signal-callers, including Rex Grossman, Ken Dorsey, Joey Harrington and David Carr. Then there was Antwaan Randle El - if voters wanted a running quarterback, he should've been the winner.
Crouch's overrated Huskers were trounced in the national championship game and he was forced to switch to defense when he attempted an NFL career, as no professional team could take him seriously as a passer.
Worst Heisman Trophy Winners: Sources
College Football Statistics & History | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
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The Heisman Trophy winner doesn't necessarily have to achieve success at the NFL level in order to "validate" the award. That's not what the Heisman is for. But it should reward the best player in college football, regardless of position. Too often, it only rewards the quarterback who happens to play for the best team in college football. I'd love to see some linebackers and offensive linemen winning this award, but I doubt that day will come anytime soon.
Here's a rundown of the seven worst Heisman Trophy winners of all time. None of these players had bad seasons, they just didn't achieve enough to rightfully claim college football's highest individual honor.
7. Gary Beban (UCLA, 1967)
As far as I can tell, Gary Beban won the Heisman merely for playing through injuries. It certainly can't be because of his passing numbers, which amounted to less than 1,500 yards and as many interceptions and touchdowns during the 1967 campaign. You have to wonder what made voters pick Beban over O.J. Simpson, who guided USC to the national championship that season, which included a crucial victory over Beban's Bruins.
6. Jason White (Oklahoma, 2003)
Larry Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh was the most dominant player in college football in 2003. No reasonable college football observer would argue otherwise. Except, apparently, for the Heisman voters.
White had a good season but he wasn't nearly as good as Fitzgerald, making him an undeserving winner. Fitzgerald was totally dominant, routinely going up into triple coverage and pulling the ball down. White, meanwhile, was so good that he wasn't even drafted. A guy named Eli Manning finished third in the voting. White was the worst choice of the three.
5. George Rogers (South Carolina, 1980)
Another good pick for the list of worst Heisman Trophy winners is running back George Rogers. Rogers benefited from a weak field in 1980 to claim the trophy ahead of freshman Herschel Walker of Georgia. Another good contender was defensive lineman Hugh Green, who was denied the award because Heisman voters just can't bring themselves to give the trophy to defensive players. Jim McMahon also put up huge passing numbers (47 TDs) for BYU.
4. Gino Torretta (Miami, 1992)
Toretta is the textbook case of a quarterback from the best team in football winning the award by default because lazy Heisman voters didn't care to look any further. While Torretta's 3,060 yards and 132.8 passer rating were very good, Marshall Faulk of San Diego State and Garrison Hearst of Georgia both put up big numbers at the running back position. Either would've been a better Heisman Trophy winner, but Torretta benefited from playing for one of the best teams in the country.
3. Paul Hornung (Notre Dame, 1956)
Try to imagine a player from a 2-8 team winning the Heisman Trophy today. It would never happen, given the Heisman committee's misguided belief that the winner has to come from a dominant team. It should be perfectly fine to reward a player from a mediocre team. Still, two and eight? Johnny Majors and Jim Brown were among the other candidates who might have been better Heisman Trophy choices.
2. Rashaan Salaam (Colorado, 1994)
Salaam won the trophy only because of the antiquated notion that "If you rush for 2,000 yards, you have to win the Heisman!" Salaam's season was not nearly as impressive as that of Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter, who averaged a ridiculous 7.8 yards per carry but pocketed fewer yards than Salaam because he was taken out of nearly every game early, since his undefeated Nittany Lions were always way ahead. Neither Salaam nor Carter had much success at the NFL level, however.
Another more-worthy trophy winner would have been Steve McNair of Alcorn State, who tore up the record books with 44 touchdown passes and almost 6,000 yards of passing and rushing offense.
1. Eric Crouch (Nebraska, 2001)
Eric Crouch is easily the worst Heisman Trophy winner of all time. The Cornhusker quarterback passed for just 1,510 yards and had a ratio of 7 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. That's pathetic for a major-university starting QB and represents some of the worst numbers ever for a Heisman-winning QB. It's true that Crouch rushed for another 1,115 yards, but that hardly makes up for his abysmal passing numbers. Even worse is that Crouch beat out a number of other very good signal-callers, including Rex Grossman, Ken Dorsey, Joey Harrington and David Carr. Then there was Antwaan Randle El - if voters wanted a running quarterback, he should've been the winner.
Crouch's overrated Huskers were trounced in the national championship game and he was forced to switch to defense when he attempted an NFL career, as no professional team could take him seriously as a passer.
Worst Heisman Trophy Winners: Sources
College Football Statistics & History | College Football at Sports-Reference.com
*Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
Back to School! Sign up for College Football Pick'em today!
Updated Dec 7, 5:15 pm EST
Email Print Buzz up! 0
diggadd to facebookdel.icio.usTwitter
NCAAF
Meyer steps down as Florida coach
Nebraska suspends Steinkuhler after DUI
Big East honors UConn's Todman, Edsall
Harbaugh: Stanford fans will be at bowl
2 Wash. St. players face felony charges
Nebraska: Pelini not up for Miami job
Star Iowa WR in court for drug case
UConn's McKee arrested for child porn
Auburn DT Fairley wins Lombardi Award
Pitt's Wannstedt resigns under pressure
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