TheHeisman Trophyis the most storied trophy not only incollege football, but perhaps all of American sports — an award that carries much more weight than its iconic bronze statuette.
For all the mythology and lure that surrounds the trophy, the guidelines for selecting its winner aren't always clear. According to the Heisman Trophy Trust,the honor is given out annually to"the outstanding college football player in the United States whose performance epitomizes great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work." But even that raises questions and leads to a variance in who receives first-place votes.
REQUIRED READING:Gus Johnson should stick to calling games instead of disrespecting Heisman race
Is the best player on the best team? Is it the player who's most valuable to their team, even if they're not necessarily the most productive or efficient? How much should a player's personal path to that point in their careers factor to a voter base that can be a sucker for a compelling story? Can it go to someone who doesn't regularly have the ball in their hands? (The answer to that last one is a resounding no based on the award's historical recipients).
Because of that, the results of Heisman voting are regularly among the most breathlessly discussed topics annually in college football, a sport that's fueled by no shortage of debates. Those intense arguments will wage on years and even decades after a given player triumphantly raises the 45-pound trophy in New York City. While someone may have made sense as the winner in the moment, the reasons for their victory can become more specious over time.
Heading into this weekend's Heisman Trophy ceremony, here's a look at USA TODAY Sports' ranking of the 10 biggest snubs in Heisman history:
Biggest Heisman Trophy snubs of all-time
10. Herschel Walker (1980)
Heisman winner: George Rogers
Walker is arguably the greatest college football player of all-time, a phenom who impacted the sport from the moment he stepped on a college field. As a freshman in 1980, he rushed for 1,616 yards and 15 touchdowns for a Georgia team that went undefeated and won the national championship. Nobody else on the Bulldogs rushed for more than 353 yards and the team's quarterback, Buck Belue, completed only 77 passes that season. Rogers had an excellent season for an 8-4 South Carolina team, but Walker's outsized role for a title-winning offense should have earned him the award.
9. Tommie Frazier (1995)
Heisman winner: Eddie George
Frazier was the offensive centerpiece for perhaps the greatest, most dominant team in college football history, a 1995 Nebraska squad that won its games by an average of 38.4 points per game on its way to a national title. While piloting an offense that averaged 52.4 points per game, Frazier threw for 1,362 yards, ran for another 604 yards and accounted for 31 total touchdowns.
8. Jerry Rhome (1964)
Heisman winner: John Huarte
In two seasons at Tulsa, Rhome set virtually every NCAA passing record that existed at the time, with the star quarterback capping his career off with 2,872 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and just four interceptions as a senior. Mind you, he was putting up these numbers in the mid-1960s, long before more modern, pass-centric offenses became common. His numbers were much better than those of Huarte, a Notre Dame quarterback who threw for half as many touchdowns and nearly three times as many interceptions.
REQUIRED READING:College football bowl game schedule: The entire postseason lineup through CFP
7. Larry Fitzgerald (2003)
Heisman winner: Jason White
The highlight-reel-worthy catches Fitzgerald made throughout his decorated NFL career were on full display as a redshirt sophomore at Pitt, when he had an FBS-leading 1,672 receiving yards and 22 touchdown catches despite regularly facing double and triple coverage throughout the season. White put up eye-popping numbers in a prolific Oklahoma offense and had the kind of compelling backstory of overcoming adversity — in his case, season-ending knee injuries in each of the previous two seasons — to win over voters. In a narrow loss, Fitzgerald was hurt by his youth and the position he played, as no wide receiver would win the award between 1992 and 2019.
6. O.J. Simpson (1967)
Heisman winner: Gary Beban
In 1975, Archie Griffin became the first and only two-time Heisman Trophy winner. It's an honor that should have been claimed seven years earlier by Simpson, who took home the award in 1968, but very easily could have won it in 1967. That season, he rushed for an FBS-leading 1,415 yards while averaging 5.3 yards per carry for USC. Beban, the quarterback at crosstown rival UCLA, performed heroically in a season-ending loss to the Trojans, throwing for 301 yards, but he had just eight touchdowns to seven interceptions that season and had fewer yards through the air (1,359) than Simpson did on the ground. Though given some of what allegedly transpired after his USC career, and with the Heisman's longtime emphasis on rewarding "the pursuit of excellence with integrity," Simpson should probably be thankful he was able to hold on to the one Heisman he did win.
5. Greg Pruitt (1971)
Heisman winner: Pat Sullivan
Pruitt had a strong case for the Heisman in 1972, as well, when the Oklahoma running back narrowly lost out to Big Eight rival Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska. His third-place finish in 1971 is more egregious, though. That season, Pruitt rushed for a conference-leading 1,665 yards and 17 touchdowns while averaging an astonishing 9.4 yards per carry. Pruitt was likely hurt by his quarterback, Jack Mildren, finishing sixth in Heisman balloting that year, presenting a situation in which the two stars split votes.
REQUIRED READING:How will CFP play out? Predicting every round of College Football Playoff
4. Marshall Faulk (1992)
Heisman winner: Gino Torretta
Torretta was the star quarterback of a Miami team that was No. 1 for most of the 1992 season, giving him the best-player-on-the-best-team resume that has paved the way for many a Heisman winner. His numbers that year, though, were slightly worse than his ones from the previous season — and Faulk was simply better, anyway. The San Diego State standout and future NFL MVP had an FBS-best 1,630 yards while averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Two things hurt Faulk's case, though: his team playing in the WAC and the Aztecs' 5-5-1 record that season.
3. Ndamukong Suh (2009)
Heisman winner: Mark Ingram
Like Torretta, Ingram was the most decorated offensive player on the country's best team. But unlike the 1992 race, it was actually the fourth-place finisher who was most deserving of the Heisman. Suh was as dominant of a defensive player as there has been in modern college football history, a force of nature along the defensive line for a Nebraska team that had the nation's top scoring defense that season. He had 82 tackles, 12 sacks and 16 tackles for loss in the regular season despite often being double- and sometimes triple-teamed. Suh's distant spot behind Ingram and second-place finisher Toby Gerhart only reinforced that a defensive player likely needs other contributions (either as an offensive player or returner) to win the Heisman.
2. Chuck Muncie (1975)
Heisman winner:Archie Griffin
Griffin remains the only two-time Heisman winner ever, but the second of his two trophies was more than a little questionable. Muncie ran for 103 more yards on 17 fewer carries than the Ohio State superstar and had 13 rushing touchdowns while Griffin had just four. Though Muncie's Cal team didn't have the same success as Griffin's 11-1 Ohio State squad, the Golden Bears' eight wins that season were their most in 24 years.
1. Jim Brown (1956)
Heisman winner: Paul Hornung
Hornung is a Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he has one of the flimsiest Heisman wins in the award's lengthy history. That season, he threw three touchdowns to 13 interceptions, underwhelming numbers that weren't merely a product of a bygone era (in 1956, 26 quarterbacks threw at least six touchdowns). Even his raw passing production, with 917 yards, ranked him behind 11 other players. He threw an interception once every 8.5 passes. He didn't even play for a great Notre Dame team, as theFighting Irishwent just 2-8 that season.
Brown, meanwhile, rushed for 986 yards, had an FBS-high 13 rushing touchdowns and averaged 6.2 yards per carry for Syracuse. Brown wasn't even close to Hornung, either, finishing in fifth place (second-place Johnny Majors of Tennessee and third-place Tommy McDonald of Oklahoma were both more productive than Hornung, as well).
Given the time in which he played, some of the reasons for Brown's distant finish aren't much of a mystery. It wouldn't be until 1961 that another Syracuse running back, Ernie Davis, became the first Black player to win the Heisman. In January 2020, an ESPN-commissioned panel of 150 media members, college administrators, former coaches and former playersvoted Brown as the greatest player in college football history.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Ranking 10 biggest Heisman Trophy snubs of all-time