The Heisman race is on and once again it looks like a popularity contest.
It reminds me of the Masters.  It’s talked about with this wistful romantic tone as if it were the ultimate form of sporting purity when in reality it’s archaic and hypocritical.

The BCS is -and rightfully so- a much maligned source of contention to college football fans.  It has turned sport into politics with its voting, polls, computers and propoganda determining the winner, but the Heisman isn’t much different is it?  Schools even launch ad campaigns for Heisman hopefuls.  What does that remind you of? Before you know it they’ll be launching smear campaigns too. Finally, the BCS gets dumped on (again rightfully so) for relying on the preseason polls in determining rankings, but the Heisman does the same.  Coming into this year the triumvirate of McCoy, Bradford & Tebow were already slated for the final ceremony unless someone else did something spectacular. How fair is that?

Now lets really get down to it, here are some of my core issues with the Heisman:

1.    How is it possible that the best player in college is always an offensive player? I guess I should have said almost always as Charles Woodson did win in 1997, but even then what won him the award was his special teams and offensive exploits not just his superior defensive skills. My question is, are defensive players inferior talents and impact their team’s success less than their offensive counterparts? The answer must be a big fat “Yes” to the average Heisman voter, as the Heisman allegedly goes to the Best Player in Football. Perhaps defensive players only play defense because they are not good enough to play offense, or why else would it be nearly impossible to win as a defensive player. Take that ………… So while it has been said that defense wins championships (another bogus argument) it appears that offense will win you the Heisman.

2.    How is it that they always come from a BCS school ? In the last 30 years all but 2 winners have come from the big six conferences.  For instance, in 2006 Colt Brennan threw for 58 TD’s, an all-time  NCAA record and had the highest passer rating in college football history but he doesn’t even get a sniff of the trophy.  In fact, he didn’t even crack the top 3.  Instead Brady Quinn and his 37 TD’s and eventual winner Troy Smith and his 30 TD’s got the love. How was that even possible? Some have said the numbers were skewed because they ran the spread offense and that he was the product of a system…doesn’t Tebow run the spread ? Yup! How many other teams are running the spread? Tonnes! How many have got close to Brennan’s year? None!

Fast forward to this year Tebow is on pace this year to throw for an amazing 15 TD’s!  Yet even with those mediocre numbers he is a clear front runner. This while you have Kellen Moore at Boise and Case Keenum at Houston  having great years and in the case of Keenum a spectacular year, not just because of the 28 TD’s and only 5 picks but also the way he has done it with thrilling 4th quarter comebacks.  Despite this, they are barely an afterthought. Fair? I think not. There is a great chance they will be watching the ceremony at home with their families because they didn’t even make the final cut.
3. Even within the big six there is a caste system. Last year Graham Harrell  had a better year than all three Heisman finalists, yet he made the mistake of going to Texas Tech, that highly regarded football factory.  What do you think would have happened though if he was the QB of Texas or Oklahoma for the last 2 years?  This guy could have won 2 Heismans, and would most certainly have one for sure.

So in short, this is how it works if you want to win the Heisman. First you have to play offense; Second you have to go to a BCS school and finally it cant’ be just any BCS school, it has to be a football power. How elitest and prejudiced can you be? In an era where people take more and more pride in the fact that we are winning the battle against discrimination we just find new, less offensive ways to discriminate.  While it’s true this is only football and means nothing in the grand scheme of things, sports is supposed to be about fairness and competition on a level playing field. The Heisman just doesn’t fit that criteria. The way it’s  presently configured it is no different than having a 100 meter race where a few runners get a 10 meter head start… that’s just not sport.

Personally, I think its time to put Heisman out of his misery.  It’s an impossible task for the 900 plus voters.  How many of them can truly vote with authority?  With over 100 teams to watch each of which play at least 11 games it is no wonder these guys use fraudulent criteria to narrow it down so they can just pick the best offensive player from one of 10 schools. Obviously, there is no way the Heisman will be laid to rest but can we at least quit pretending it’s as pure, wistful and romantic as it claims?

Necessary Roughness