By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Jan 7, 2013, at 1:20 PM Updated on 1/07 at 1:20 PM
GAME POINT
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I’ve been asked several times in the past few days if I feel stupid for casting my Heisman vote for Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, or if I regret not voting for Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, or if I wish I could change my Heisman vote after seeing Manziel’s masterpiece against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
The answer is no.
The Heisman votes were due on Dec. 3. When I voted for Te’o, I felt he had the best body of work: tackles, interceptions, heart-and-soul leader off one of college football’s best defenses that drove the Fighting Irish to an undefeated record and a spot in the national championship game.
As of Dec. 3, Te’o had earned my vote.
But what if the Heisman Trophy Trust gave voters a deadline of Jan. 8 — after the bowls, in other words?
As it stands right now, yes, in a hypothetical world, I’d vote for Manziel. He surpassed West Virginia’s Tavon Austin for the most impressive individual performance I’ve personally witnessed. (And both came against the Sooners’ defense this season. Wow.)
But I’m writing this before tonight’s Alabama-Notre Dame clash, so I can’t say for sure. Who knows? Maybe Te’o has 15 tackles and two interceptions and a key goal-line stand and the Irish beat the Tide for the national title. In that world, I imagine I’d still vote for Te’o.
Manziel’s theatrics in Jerry World definitely moved him up in my eyes. A lot. He had done some of his best work against the worst teams on A&M’s schedule. Not his fault, but that counts. Also, two of his worst games were games the Aggies lost. Again, not all his fault — just like that end zone interception against the Sooners, in and out of a teammate’s hands — but it all counts.
Asking me if I’d change my vote if I could, having seen Manziel up close in a bowl game — it doesn’t really compute. That’s not within the parameters of the voting process.
That would be sort of like asking someone who voted for Purdue’s Leroy Keyes in 1968 if they would change their vote for O.J. Simpson because he acted in a bunch of movies, or asking someone who voted for Simpson if they would change their vote to Keyes because he was an accused double-murder suspect and is now in jail for armed robbery and kidnapping.
OK, not exactly. Manziel did his extra credit work in a bowl game, on the football field, while O.J. — well, “The Naked Gun” won’t get you any extra Heisman votes.
But the point is the same: the polls are closed. I don’t see anyone asking if they can change their vote to Mitt Romney because of this Fiscal Cliff mess or Obama’s stance on gun control.
As I wrote on Dec. 3, Manziel is a deserving winner. But I still feel good about voting for Te’o based on the season he had — before the voting deadline.
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