The theme of my blog continues to be college football since I have been following the sport which goes back to 1967.
This is my list of the best and the worst of the Heisman winners in that time period.
Best:
1. Barry Sanders – Oklahoma State RB: Sanders was as smooth a Running Back as the world has seen. After playing behind another talent in Thurman Thomas, Sanders just exploded onto the national scene in 1988 like nobody else. He ran for an incredible 2,628 yards and an equally
remarkable 37 Touchdowns. Sanders was the 3rd player picked in the 1989 NFL Draft right after Troy Aikman of UCLA and Tony Mandarich of Michigan State. The 1989 draft was maybe the best of all time with 4 out of the top 5 making the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sanders quit in his prime at Detroit with over 15,000 career rushing yards. Sanders was one of the best players in the history of the game.
2. OJ Simpson – USC RB: Think what you will about Simpson due to his off field issues and that would probably be true. But, on the field he was one of the greats. Simpson came in 2nd in the nation in the 1967 Heisman race, but won it all in 1968 while leading the nation in rushing both seasons. In 1968, OJ dominated college football and after he won the Heisman, he was picked 1st overall in the 1969 NFL Draft. Simpson, with all of is talent, didn’t do all that well early on at Buffalo. But, he took off during his fourth season and in his fifth season he was the first NFL player to crack the 2,000 yard barrier. Now days, Simpson is more famous for being a villain, but back in the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of the top athletes in the nation and a household name.
3. Herschel Walker – Georgia RB: As a collegian, Herschel Walker was as good as they come. To illustrate his greatness, the Georgia Bulldogs were barely above .500 the year before his arrival. After Herschel, they won the national championship during his freshman season and challenged all other seasons he played in Athens. Walker was the first guy to leave after 3 years for the Pros, but it was the United States Football League because the NFL didn’t allow it back then. Walker ran for over 1,600 yards as a true freshman and then followed that with 1,891 yards as a sophomore. During the 1982 season, Walker put up another 1,752 yards and won the Heisman. In 3 seasons, Walker ran for 5,259 yards and there’s no telling what he could have one with another year. After playing in the
USFL for a few seasons, Herschel Walker joined the Cowboys and was somewhat disappointing considering his earlier greatness. He still managed over 8,000 yards rushing in the NFL.
4. Earl Campbell – Texas RB: One of the great power Running Backs of all time. Campbell spent 3 seasons as a wishbone Fullback before moving to Tailback in his senior season and wrecking havoc on college defenses. In 1977, big Earl ran for 1,744 yards while winning the Heisman and then he was picked with the top pick by the Houston Oilers. In the NFL, Campbell was a terror from day one to opposing defenses and was famous for running over anyone brave enough to meet him head on. He had 4 spectacular seasons filled with highlight reel runs, before going down with an injury. He bounced back for one more 1,000 yard season, before it all caught up with him. Campbell didn’t have that many career yards in the NFL, but he was on fire for his first few seasons and led the Oilers to heights they had never reached before even causing many fans to call the Oilers the Earlers. He was maybe the greatest power runner of all time for a few years.
5. Tony Dorsett – Pittsburgh RB: This incredible speed back did it on every level. In high school, he was an undersized 150 pound Running Back. At Pitt, he was a difference maker and an All American from day one. Dorsett was all the difference in turning the Pittsburgh Panther football program
around. He ran for over 1,000 years for all 4 seasons in Pittsburgh and he topped 2,000 in his last year while smashing all of the all time career rushing records. Plus, he led the Pittsburgh Panthers to the 1976 national championship. He was the 2nd overall pick in the 1977 NFL Draft behind Ricky Bell of USC. The Dallas Cowboys had earned the 2nd pick due to a trade and they chose Dorsett, wisely, and he helped lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl championship during his rookie season. Nobody has ever done what Tony Dorsett’s teams did which is win a college championship one season and an NFL championship the following. After running for almost 13,000 career yards in the NFL, Dorsett retired and is currently in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is one of the all time greats.
6. Bo Jackson – Auburn RB: If Bo Jackson had played as a Tailback instead of as a Wishbone Halfback, he might have made the top spot on this list. He only rushed for over 1,000 yards during his sophomore and senior seasons and he still managed to top 4,000 rushing yards. In 1985, Bo Jackson had an outstanding senior season with over 1,700 yards rushing and 17 Touchdowns. The thing with Jackson is he was such an incredible athlete that he could have been the top pick in about any sport he picked and he chose baseball. He did finally play in the NFL and ran for nearly 3,000 yards in 4 seasons. But, sadly, football messed up his baseball career with injuries. Jackson was maybe the most naturally athletic player in the history of the game. He was just phenomenal.
7. Ricky Williams – Texas RB: Williams broke Tony Dorsett’s 22 year old career rushing record in 1998 when he tore up defenses to the tune of 2,124 yards and 27 Touchdowns. That was after running for 1,893 yards and 25 Touchdowns as a junior. Williams’ rushing record only lasted a season before being smashed by Ron Dayne of Wisconsin, but Texas played him at Fullback for his first two
seasons. Ricky Williams was drafted with the 5th pick of the NFL Draft. Williams ran for over 10,000 yards in the NFL which could have been much greater if not for some off field issues. No matter what happened off the field, Ricky Williams was still in the top tier of all Running Backs to ever play the game.
8. Billy Sims – Oklahoma RB: Another super star Running Back that suffered somewhat by being in an offense that was great but not necessarily best for his extreme talents. Sims was one of the all time greats. As a Wishbone Halfback, Sims ran for 1,762 yards and 20 Touchdowns in 1978 during his junior season. As incredible of a Running Back and as great as Billy Sims was, he did not win the Heisman Trophy again in 1979 because of the super season produced by Charles White of USC in 1979. Sims ran for just over 1,500 yards as a senior and then was picked by the Detroit Lions in the 1980 NFL Draft with the very first pick. With the Lions, Sims was an instant star running for just over 1,300 yards as a rookie. Unfortunately, the NFL career of Billy Sims was cut short by injuries after he ran for over 5,000 yards. Unlike some other football players, Billy Sims is a great man with a great big heart who sadly got scammed by scandalous business partners and he had to file bankruptcy.
9. Marcus Allen – USC RB: It was difficult not placing Marcus Allen much higher on this list. At USC, Allen played Fullback for Charles White who beat out Billy Sims for the award in 1979. Allen moved into the celebrated USC Tailback position in 1980, and the Trojans didn’t miss a beat. After running for 1,563 yards as a junior, Allen had one of the greatest seasons off all time outside of Barry Sanders’ 1988 season with 2,427 yards and 22 Touchdowns. The Raiders took Allen with the 10th pick of the 1st round and he went on to run for over 12,000 career yards mostly with the Raiders, but also with the Kansas City Chiefs. Allen was not the biggest or the fastest of Running Backs, but he was big enough and he was fast enough and he was extremely productive.
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winner in Tim Tebow, Newton transferred to a Junior College in Texas before signing with Auburn. He only played one real season of college football and that was his Heisman winning season in 2010. Newton led the Auburn Tigers to the national title while throwing for over 2,800 yards and 30 Touchdowns. On the ground, Newton ran for 1,473 yards and 20 more Touchdowns. Newton helped the Auburn Tigers win some spectacular games in impressive fashion. He was the number one pick by the Carolina Panthers where he is successful, obviously.
Worst:
1. Gary Beban – UCLA QB: Beban threw for a grand total of 1,300 yards in 1967 while winning the magical Heisman, but those were the times. He beat such people as OJ Simpson, Leroy Keyes of Purdue and Larry Csonka of Syracuse. Simpson and the USC Trojans beat the UCLA Bruins in their 1967 rivalry game to win the national championship and Simpson set himself up for success in 1968. Beban was drafted in the 2nd round by the Los Angeles Rams, but didn’t even make the team and he spent a couple of seasons as a back up in Washington before being cut.
2. Pat Sullivan – Auburn QB: Sorry Auburn fans, but as great as Bo Jackson and Cam Newton were, Sullivan really wasn’t. In the 1971 Heisman ballots, Sullivan did beat out Ed Marinaro of Cornell, Greg Pruitt of Oklahoma, Lydell Mitchell of Penn State, and Jerry Tagge of Nebraska. Sullivan did throw for over 2,000 yards in 1971 and helped lead his team to a 9-2 record. Sullivan was picked in the 2nd round by the Atlanta Falcons and was on the team for 4 seasons. But, he only threw for 1,100 yards during that time period. Sullivan later got into coaching and he was the head coach at TCU in the 1992 through 1997 seasons. After taking the Offensive Coordinator job at Alabama Birmingham, Sullivan became the head coach at Samford where he coached through the 2014 season.
3. Jason White – Oklahoma QB: Yes, White put up huge numbers at Oklahoma when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2003. He placed 3rd in 2004, with also big numbers but he disappeared off the football map after that. In the 2003 season, White threw for 3,800 yards and an impressive 40 Touchdowns which earned him the Heisman. White had another good season in 2004, but Matt Leinart of USC won the Heisman that season, in spite of White throwing 45 Touchdown passes. But, also sensational Oklahoma true freshman Adrian Peterson split the votes for the Sooners that season when Peterson came in second in the Heisman voting. White became just the 3rd Heisman winner to not be drafted by the NFL and one of those was Charlie Ward who chose to play in the NBA instead of football. In defense of White, he did suffer some serious knee injuries while at Oklahoma. White is a successful businessman in the state of Oklahoma presently.
4. Ty Detmer – BYU QB: Granted, Detmer put up some incredible numbers at BYU. But, what Brigham Young Quarterback did not back in those years? In 1990, as a junior, Detmer threw for over 5,000 yards and 41 Touchdowns in leading his BYU Cougars to a 10-3 record. Detmer threw for over 4,000 yards in 1991 and came in third for the Heisman behind Desmon Howard of Michigan and Casey Weldon of Florida State. Detmer finished his college career with over 15,000 career passing yards. But, he was an even 6 foot and 190 and not in high demand by NFL franchises. He was taken in the 9th round by the Green Bay Packers. He never played for the Packers but bounced around the league for a while throwing for over 6,000 yards in the NFL. Not the greatest of stats for a former Heisman winner.
5. John Cappelletti – Penn State RB: Cappelletti started his junior and season seasons at Penn State running for just over 1,100 yards as a junior and over 1,500 as a senior. He’s probably most famous for the movie Something for Joey because of his little brother who had Leukemia. Cappy led his Penn State team to a perfect 12-0 season in 1973 when he won the Heisman, but there were quite a few
unbeaten teams in that season with Notre Dame beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl which gained the Irish the national championship. The Los Angeles Rams drafted Cappelletti with their first pick in the 1974 NFL draft and he played 9 seasons with the Rams and the Chargers. Even though he was in the league for a while, he only managed right at 3,000 yards rushing.
6. Troy Smith – Ohio State QB: Smith might should be much higher on this list. In the 2006 season, Smith won the Heisman with 2,600 yards passing and 30 Touchdowns while running for just over 200 yards. It was clearly a bad year for Offensive talent when Smith beat out Darren McFadden of Arkansas, Brady Quinn of Notre Dame and Steve Slaton of West Virginia. Smith was a 5th round pick by the Baltimore Ravens but never did much in the NFL lasting for only 4 seasons with the Ravens and then San Francisco.
7. Rashaam Salaam – Colorado RB: The Colorado Buffaloes of 1994 were outstanding, but had the misfortune of playing in the same conference and period as the Nebraska Cornhuskers which had one of the all time great teams that season under legendary coach Tom Osborne. #3 ranked Nebraska beat #2 ranked Colorado 24 to 7 in Lincoln, Nebraska on their way to a 13-0 national championship season. The Buffaloes finished the season with an impressive 11-1 record after beating Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. Salaam was sensational in 2004 when he busted the 2,000 yard barrier. The former California 8 man football player had made it to the big time and after winning the Heisman he made himself available for the NFL. The Bears took him with their first pick and he had a 1,000 yard rushing season as a rookie. But, then, Salaam fizzled and never did much of anything which is why he made my list. He will forever be known as a 1st round bust for the Bears and never produced anywhere else.
8. Gino Torretta – Miami QB: Torretta started 2 seasons for the Miami Hurricanes and he threw for over 3,000 yards in each of them. The Pinole, California native traveled across the country to play for the Hurricanes back when they were one of the nation’s elite programs. Torretta was the 7th pick of
the 1993 NFL Draft after winning the Heisman Trophy in 1992. He did hang around the league for a few seasons but never played.
9. Andre Ware – Houston QB: Ware lite up defenses for over 4,600 yards in the 1989 season with 46 Touchdown passes. In the 1990 NFL Draft Ware was taken by the Detroit Lions in the 1st round. Has anyone had any worse drafts than the Detroit Lions? Ware could actually be higher on this list because of his lack of NFL success. In 4 seasons at Detroit, Ware had a grand total of 1,100 passing yards. He is a pretty good announcer on the SEC Network now.
10. Matt Leinart – USC QB: An Outstanding college Quarterback with 3 incredible seasons at Southern Cal. He won the Heisman Trophy as a junior in 2004 before his teammate Reggie Bush won it in 2005. Leinart figured to go early in the draft and it was shocking when he slipped to the 10th spot of the first round and he was picked by Arizona. While a Cardinal, he started out with a decent rookie year before things went bad for him. He was a back up at Arizona for 3 more seasons before moving on to Houston and then Oakland. He finished up with just 4,000 career passing yards in the NFL. It was a tremendous letdown for an incredible college Quarterback.