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Heisman: Is Best the best?
Published: 8/23/2009 4:28 PM
Last Modified: 8/23/2009 4:28 PM

This is a day I looked forward to as a newspaper reader -- the college football preview section is here! -- before I became a newspaper writer.
At some point today, I will sprawl across the floor and try to read just about every syllable. (Would've done it already, except that U.S. Amateur duties beckoned).
In the meanwhile, let me explain my oddball Heisman pick in the preview section.
I'm a little overdosed on Heisman quarterbacks. Seven of the last eight Heisman winners have been quarterbacks. You can probably extend that to eight of the last nine since Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy all return after being the top vote-getters last season.
I'm not rooting against any of the above, especially since they all seem to be superb citizens. But, just to throw a curveball into the mix, I wanted to climb out on a limb and pick someone besides a quarterback to win the Heisman.
What have I got to lose? If I'm right, I look like a smarty pants. If I'm wrong, who keeps score several months later?
So I scoured the landscape for the best available running back and that might be California's Jahvid Best. I don't know a lot about him, but I do know that he averaged more than eight yards a carry last season and has been compared to Reggie Bush, the last running back to win the Heisman.
Meanwhile, Tennessee sent out Heisman promotional material last week in an attempt to scrounge up support for a defensive player. Eric Berry enters this season needing just 15 interception return yards to break Terrell Buckley's career NCAA record.
Sorry, Eric. A perfect storm must blow in for a defensive player to win a Heisman and it's not a perfect storm season when Bradford, Tebow and McCoy are all returning.
Coincidentally, the last time a defensive player won the Heisman, it came at the expense of a deserving quarterback (Peyton Manning) from Berry's school.
You can follow Berry's Heisman campaign on Facebook or Twitter or a Web site (www.Berry4Heisman.com).
Here's an idea: Considering the state of the economy, how about doing away with Heisman promotions (no billboards in Times Square, please) and letting kids campaign with their actions instead.


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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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