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The Five Worst Heisman Winners of All Time
Published by JM Van Horn on December 10, 2009
As the days wind down to the announcement of the 75th Heisman trophy, it gives us time to reflect back on past winners as we wait to see if Toby Gerhart, Mark Ingram, Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, or Ndamukong Suh take home the hardware this year.
Whether it was because of popularity or the lack of common sense, Heisman voters have over looked more deserving candidates. After all they are human and prone to making mistakes.
With that being said, here are the Five Worst Heisman Winners and who should have been the right choice to win the award.
Gino Torretta (Miami 1992)
While the Miami Hurricanes earned a record of 11-1 during the course of a season, Torretta passed for 3,060 yards with 19 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. The real reason for the success of the Hurricanes was their defensive unit led by Darrin Smith and Michael Barrow. This group held their opponents to ten points or less on six different occasions.
If the Heisman voters had it right, they would have chosen running back Marshall Faulk from San Diego State. Even with health issues during the season, Faulk ran for 1,630 yards with 15 touchdowns while playing on a team that lacked any other star players.
Eric Crouch (Nebraska 2001)
To this day, there are many college football fans who believe Crouch received this award based on his career achievements rather than his performance during the 2001 season. While Crouch did have a solid season in 2001, where he passed for 1,501 yards, ran for 1,261 rushing yards and accounted for 25 touchdowns, there was another more deserving candidate.
Florida Gator Rex Grossman was a close second to Crouch in the Heisman voting after he compiled 4,144 passing yards with 38 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Many fans feel Grossman was overlooked because he was a sophomore at the time. Fifteen years later, Florida fans would see this trend end with Tim Tebow.
Archie Griffin (Ohio State 1975)
There is no doubt Griffin deserved his first Heisman trophy, but when he was given the award for a second time in 1975, the debate started. At the conclusion of the season, Griffin had run for a respectable 1,450 yards, third in the nation, while only scoring four times.
When it came to more deserving candidates, there was his running mate Pete Johnson who ran for 1,059 yards with a league leading 26 touchdowns. Or there was Chuck Muncie from California who rumbled for 1,460 yards with 13 touchdowns. Either of them would have made more sense than Griffin.
Gary Beban (UCLA 1967)
When it comes down to the most peculiar Heisman trophy winner, UCLA’s quarterback Gary Beban takes the case. During the course of the season, Beban passed for 1,359 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Beban’s best game of the season produced 301 passing yards with two touchdowns and only one interception. The problem is that it came in a losing effort to the USC Trojans, led by O.J. Simpson. Simpson would lead the Trojans to a national title by gaining 1,543 rushing yards and scoring a total of 16 touchdowns.
Rashaan Salaam (Colorado 1994)
Of the ones on the list, this Heisman trophy winner is one of the more subjective ones. During his junior season, Salaam rushed for an impressive 2,055 yards while scoring 24 touchdowns. Though Salaam’s statistics were impressive, he did little to help the Buffaloes when the Nebraska Cornhuskers knocked them off.
The Heisman voters decided to pass on Steve McNair from Alcorn State University who passed and ran for 5,799 yards while scoring a total of 53 touchdowns. It was not until McNair succeed on the pro level that people began to give him credit for his performance on the college level.
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Tagged with: Alcorn State University, Archie Griffin, California Golden Bears, Colorado Buffaloes, Eric Crouch, Florida Gators, Gary Beban, Gino Torretta, Heisman Trophy, JM Van Horn, Marshall Faulk, Miami Hurricanes, NCAA Football, Nebraska Cornhuskers, O J Simpson, Ohio State, Rashaan Salaam, Rex Grossman, Steve McNair, Tim Tebow, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, Worst Heisman Winners
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Joe on Fri, 11th Dec 2009 16:43
Salaam’s heisman was definitely controversial however it wasn’t steve mcnair who deserved it (great year but alcorn st, come on) it was kijana carter, who led the greatest offense in college football history and penn state to an undefeated season in 94-95, that really deserved the heisman