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Heisman Vote is Mirrored
Published: 12/17/2008 8:33 AM
Last Modified: 12/17/2008 8:33 AM

The Associated Press All-America team came out and it's interesting to note that the first, second and third-team quarterbacks were the fellows who finished first, second and third -- in that order -- in the Heisman race.
What's the point?
It shows that there wasn't some sort of Heisman conspiracy to prevent Tim Tebow from repeating. People voted the same way even when the Heisman wasn't at stake.
Pro-Tebow folks are angry as heck that Tebow finished third in Heisman voting and can't imagine how Tebow could have been left off any ballots. This is how: Because it's a subjective voting process and, in the opinion of many, Tebow wasn't the first-, second- or third-best player in the country.
No question, he's a great kid. The award doesn't go to the best kid. It goes to the best player, or whatever your intrepretation of that is.
I didn't think Tebow was the best player last year and voted for Darren McFadden. I also didn't think Tebow was the best player this year, when his stats were less impressive than the year before. But he was on my ballot.
Tebow boosters say you have to take his leadership in consideration. Sure. Just find me a meter or a test to prove that he is a better leader than Colt McCoy (who had zero help) or any of the other guys who were up for the Heisman.
In the aftermath of the Heisman vote, folks have gone overboard. Someone suggested Tebow sufferered from backlash because he is the most publicized college football player, ever.
Really? Someone wrote a book so big about the recruitment of Marcus Dupree that a forest had to be killed just to manufacture the pages. If today's media culture existed back in the day, Dupree probably would have had three reality shows by the time his sophomore season of college arrived.
Someone did suffer from backlash in Heisman voting, but it wasn't Tebow. It was Peyton Manning, who deserved to win and did not because voters either got too cute or decided Manning was too good to be true.
Who should have been the second person to repeat as a Heisman winner? Georgia running back Herschel Walker. The only thing that prevented him from doing it was a four-letter word -- USFL.



Reader Comments 7 Total
Mitch (4 years ago)
Well Sam Bradford is not the best college player in the country, so what is your point?
jimmie tramel (4 years ago)
The point is there is no such thing as the best player in college football. It's all a matter of opinion. So you can't be incorrect for believing that Tim Tebow isn't the best player in the country.
John (4 years ago)
I think it's fair to say that a Heisman winner that skipped his Sr. season to play in the NFL and subsequently earned the ROY would have likely repeated as a Heisman winner. By this logic, Barry Sanders would have repeated.
TMS (4 years ago)
Don't kid yourself Jimmie. Sure the same folks voted the same way.
jimmie tramel (4 years ago)
The people who vote on the Heisman and the people who vote for the ap team are indeed a different bunch of voters. It's not the same crew. And, yes, Barry Sanders would have ran away with the Heisman had he returned in 1989, when Andre Ware benefitted from his early depature.
MarkO (4 years ago)
It just seems to me that if the Heisman voting criteria were to consist of:
a.how the player contributed to the team's seasons success and where would the team be without him and
b.what records and stats did the player have that season compared to the other contenders.
Voting by using only those two would make it clear (as possible) which player had the best year.
Rick (4 years ago)
Well Sam Bradford is not the best college player in the country, so what is your point?

According to the Heisman voters he is. The best player in college football is a subjective award
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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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