Does the Heisman matter anymore?

[X-Hack]

Once upon a time: The Patriots were in Atlanta (this is so long ago the game was at Fulton County-Atlanta).It was Saturday night and as I got on the elevator going down, Doug Flutie got on. Recogncozing me as a writer, he asked "who won the Heisman?" I told him Tim Brown, and he thanked me. My thought was as Doug got off on the meeting floor was "why the hell should he care?" Then I thought "Oh, right." The most famous, then or since, college football player in New England. A guy I covered his entire BC career. And I forgot he won the Heisman. That's how much it means.

I've lived in the Boston area for 30 years. I didn't grow up in New England and I was a freshman in HS during his Heisman year but the hype was huge. My cousins were from the area and that's all they would talk about. He's synonymous with the Heisman around here and definitely one of the more memorable winners of the last 40-50 years overall. Maybe if Joe Dudek or Gordie Lockbaum had won the Heisman it would have been more memorable...

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Good read here on Heisman winners and CTE.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/12/08/heisman-winners-cte/

 

[dixiehack]

Could it be that the playoff is blotting out the sun here too? Only Penix is a finalist from the semifinal teams and nobody thinks he’s winning it.

 

[HanSenSE]

How much of it could be cramming all the postseason awards into one week? AP announced it's team earlier this week, IIRC, and there's been some sort of ceremony each of the last two nights, no?

I blame soccer, uh, the playoff format, or the the overload of bowls.

 

[cjericho]

I've lived in the Boston area for 30 years. I didn't grow up in New England and I was a freshman in HS during his Heisman year but the hype was huge. My cousins were from the area and that's all they would talk about. He's synonymous with the Heisman around here and definitely one of the more memorable winners of the last 40-50 years overall. Maybe if Joe Dudek or Gordie Lockbaum had won the Heisman it would have been more memorable...

What The Heck, Why Not Dudek

 

[DanOregon]

I do find it odd, that with all of the NIL money floating around, you don't see more promotion of various Heisman candidates by people trying to get corporate brands out there.

 

[HanSenSE]

I do find it odd, that with all of the NIL money floating around, you don't see more promotion of various Heisman candidates by people trying to get corporate brands out there.

Give them a year or two.

 

[Sea Bass]

Once upon a time: The Patriots were in Atlanta (this is so long ago the game was at Fulton County-Atlanta).It was Saturday night and as I got on the elevator going down, Doug Flutie got on. Recogncozing me as a writer, he asked "who won the Heisman?" I told him Tim Brown, and he thanked me. My thought was as Doug got off on the meeting floor was "why the hell should he care?" Then I thought "Oh, right." The most famous, then or since, college football player in New England. A guy I covered his entire BC career. And I forgot he won the Heisman. That's how much it means.

Desmond Tutu thought Flutie’s Heisman meant so little he dropped it on the floor on Saturday Night Live.

 

[Alma]

ESPN doesn’t care about college football!?!

LOL.

Well, I wrote “compared to 2009.” And that’s accurate.

Thamel’s hire is a step in the right direction though

 

[DanOregon]

How many Heisman winners wouldn't have the award mentioned in the first line of their obituary? First paragraph? OJ? Staubach? Barru Samders? Not many players have done anything to surpass that achievment. Super Bowl winning QB, Pro Football HoFer etc.

 

[cjericho]

It would be the first line in many, but partly because many did not live up to that hype in the NFL.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Well, I wrote “compared to 2009.” And that’s accurate.

Thamel’s hire is a step in the right direction though

The idea ESPN cares less about CFB now compared to 2009 is still laughable. My gosh, they just paid $3 billion for the SEC TV rights.

 

[Slacker]

How many Heisman winners wouldn't have the award mentioned in the first line of their obituary? First paragraph? OJ? Staubach? Barru Samders? Not many players have done anything to surpass that achievment. Super Bowl winning QB, Pro Football HoFer etc.

I see no need to drag Barru Samders into this discussion.

 

[Dog8Cats]

I think part of the diminished interest in the Heisman stems from the heightened attention on the sport the other 51 weeks of the year.

Not THAT long ago, every team's game was not on television. Publications such as College and Pro Football News served a purpose, with their complete agate and wire recaps of every game. A fan or a voter might have HEARD of a Penix Jr., but that fan or voter might not have seen him more play than once or twice, and the climactic moment of announcing the Heisman vote included some mystery and mythology about a player's (largely unwitnessed) performance.

Now, hell ... we've probably all seen all seven incompletions Bo Nix threw this season.

 

[Dog8Cats]

And while we're on the topic, can we get rid of using "Heisman Trophy candidate" as an ID for a player? My ****ing God. Every ****ing guy in ****ing shoulder pads is a ****ing Heisman Trophy candidate.

The oppressive ubiquity of betting content might actually be a boon on this front. Being able to say, "Jeff George, the second favorite for the Heisman Trophy, played as if he wore clown shoes onto the field" is a lot more informative than plastering him - and 90 bazillion other players - with a "Heisman Trophy candidate" ID.

 

[Alma]

The idea ESPN cares less about CFB now compared to 2009 is still laughable. My gosh, they just paid $3 billion for the SEC TV rights.

Then it’s laughable.

I guess ESPN does care more about niche college football. FCS. Sun Belt.

 

[YMCA B-Baller]

It probably lost a lot of luster when it went mainly to quarterbacks being the lone consideration.

There has never been a time when the main offensive player wasn't the "lone consideration".

Quarterbacks, always. When the running game was a bigger part of college football, running backs dominated the award.

I can't knock it. As a voter, there aren't many players more influential than the quarterback. It would take a phenomenal season for a defensive player to have similar influence.

 

[Della9250]

The fact that it has become a QB only award hurts

Since 2010, only two non QBs have won it. And in that time the top 3 vote getters have been QBs five times, maybe six after Saturday

 

[Driftwood]

There has never been a time when the main offensive player wasn't the "lone consideration".

Quarterbacks, always. When the running game was a bigger part of college football, running backs dominated the award.

I can't knock it. As a voter, there aren't many players more influential than the quarterback. It would take a phenomenal season for a defensive player to have similar influence.

Or an organized campaign by ESPN because they thought it would be neat for a DB to get it that year.

 

[BTExpress]

. . . who in an incredible coincidence played in a conference they had teevee rights to.