Sloopy45
Pimp Minister Sinister
I think (since every other sports league changes to match the time), that the criteria and unwritten boundaries of the most esteemed trophy in all of sports should change and come up to speed with the 00's.
Heisman Trophy voting can't be bound by the "only upperclassmen" rule anymore. The would-be best players in CFB bolt for the NFL nowadays, leaving a void of underwhelming candidates for the Heisman each and every year.
Granted, there have always been scrubs who tripped and fell over the Heisman. But now there are more and more than ever. Look at the people who won the award in the 80's: Marcus Allen. Herschel Walker. Mike Rozier. Doug Flutie. Bo Jackson. Vinny Testaverde. Tim Brown. Barry Sanders. It reads like a "Who's-Who" of the greatest players that ever stepped on a College Football field.
Now look at some of the names who've won it since then: Andre Ware. Gino Toretta. Danny Wuerffel. Chris Weinke. Eric Crouch. Jason White. Its mostly a list of good players with great seasons who beat out a vanilla field of candidates. The award doesn't have the same "oomph" that it used to have.
I think they've got to encourage voters to vote for underclassmen. Also, I think they have to broaden their horizons: more dynamic players, like Charles Woodson playing Defense or Orlando Pace at LT, should get the push.
CFB has changed: its more of a passing game now, dominated by great WRs, but only 3 WRs have ever won the Award. The trend toward the big & fast wide-out is only going to become more prevalent in the sport. Yet, none of these guys ever get considered as serious candidates. Also, the old "Ya gotta play for Notre Dame or ya gotta beat Notre Dame," Heisman motto means nothing today. Notre Dame isn't a measuring stick for the great players in CFB anymore. And don't kid yourself, this still holds true: five of the last ten Heisman winners BEAT Notre Dame that season!!
Here's the Sloopy Revisionist Heisman, and see if I can't make the list better:
1990: Rocket Ismail instead of Ty Detmer: Rocket is one of the best CFB players of all-time, but he's got no hardware. He mostly lost that award because of the position he plays.
1992: Marshall Faulk instead of Gino Toretta: Faulk, another one of the greatest players of all time, barely lost to Toretta. If you're looking for a reason: Marshall was a Sophomore at the time.
1996: Orlando Pace over Wuerffel: tell me this Award wouldn't look better with the greatest Tackle in CFB history's name attached to it than some also-ran Run & Shoot QB.
1999: Michael Vick over Ron Dayne: Dayne won the "Career Award," but Vick deserved it this season. He's the greatest Freshman QB in history.
If this was the Sloopy Heisman, the winners in the 90's would look a lot better (I think) than the current "best Senior QB or RB on a great team" Heisman: Rocket Ismail, Desmond Howard, Marshall Faulk, Charlie Ward, Eddie George, Ricky Williams, Orlando Pace, & Michael Vick. Thats a helluva list.
Heisman Trophy voting can't be bound by the "only upperclassmen" rule anymore. The would-be best players in CFB bolt for the NFL nowadays, leaving a void of underwhelming candidates for the Heisman each and every year.
Granted, there have always been scrubs who tripped and fell over the Heisman. But now there are more and more than ever. Look at the people who won the award in the 80's: Marcus Allen. Herschel Walker. Mike Rozier. Doug Flutie. Bo Jackson. Vinny Testaverde. Tim Brown. Barry Sanders. It reads like a "Who's-Who" of the greatest players that ever stepped on a College Football field.
Now look at some of the names who've won it since then: Andre Ware. Gino Toretta. Danny Wuerffel. Chris Weinke. Eric Crouch. Jason White. Its mostly a list of good players with great seasons who beat out a vanilla field of candidates. The award doesn't have the same "oomph" that it used to have.
I think they've got to encourage voters to vote for underclassmen. Also, I think they have to broaden their horizons: more dynamic players, like Charles Woodson playing Defense or Orlando Pace at LT, should get the push.
CFB has changed: its more of a passing game now, dominated by great WRs, but only 3 WRs have ever won the Award. The trend toward the big & fast wide-out is only going to become more prevalent in the sport. Yet, none of these guys ever get considered as serious candidates. Also, the old "Ya gotta play for Notre Dame or ya gotta beat Notre Dame," Heisman motto means nothing today. Notre Dame isn't a measuring stick for the great players in CFB anymore. And don't kid yourself, this still holds true: five of the last ten Heisman winners BEAT Notre Dame that season!!
Here's the Sloopy Revisionist Heisman, and see if I can't make the list better:
1990: Rocket Ismail instead of Ty Detmer: Rocket is one of the best CFB players of all-time, but he's got no hardware. He mostly lost that award because of the position he plays.
1992: Marshall Faulk instead of Gino Toretta: Faulk, another one of the greatest players of all time, barely lost to Toretta. If you're looking for a reason: Marshall was a Sophomore at the time.
1996: Orlando Pace over Wuerffel: tell me this Award wouldn't look better with the greatest Tackle in CFB history's name attached to it than some also-ran Run & Shoot QB.
1999: Michael Vick over Ron Dayne: Dayne won the "Career Award," but Vick deserved it this season. He's the greatest Freshman QB in history.
If this was the Sloopy Heisman, the winners in the 90's would look a lot better (I think) than the current "best Senior QB or RB on a great team" Heisman: Rocket Ismail, Desmond Howard, Marshall Faulk, Charlie Ward, Eddie George, Ricky Williams, Orlando Pace, & Michael Vick. Thats a helluva list.
