Marcus Mariota Is the Heisman Winner College Football Needed

In the end, this was the obvious choice, but that still wasn't a guarantee it would happen. Marcus Mariota, the Oregon quarterback, won the Heisman Trophy Saturday.

Marcus Mariota, sports hero.

Is it safe to say that? No, of course it isn't. I feel the need to put a disclaimer here or something, in case his future—or even his past—has something dark in it. But no, this was an important moment for college football based on Mariota's body of work as we know it on and off the field.

Three of the previous four Heisman winners were Jameis Winston, Johnny Manziel and Cam Newton, and they were all great on the field but trouble off it. And there are a few things at play with Mariota's good-guy angle. He was the best player in college football, and he did it quietly.

He did it in the middle of the night, playing in games that were on too late for most of the country to stay up to watch. So that's nice for him.

TROY WAYRYNEN/Associated Press

At some point, you have to wonder if the look-at-me stuff of today's superstar athletes is more than just a byproduct of spotlight. You have to wonder if it is actually exactly what we want from athletes. (To be clear, when I say that, I'm not talking about the rape allegation against Winston.)

But maybe the attention-grabbing behavior—the look-at-me stuff—is an ugly attitude that creates interest and gets votes, too. I was starting to wonder if you can be a star anymore without it.

Not this time. More than ever, it was important this year that we champion a good guy, on and off the field. It is just nice to see that a guy can win the top award in college sports so quietly. If you're watching, youth coaches and high school coaches, pass on the message please.

I wrote a few months ago that Mariota might save the Heisman. He did.

He told Bleacher Report then about the responsibility he felt, talking about why he stopped and spoke with kids before leaving the field after the Ducks lost to Arizona this year. At that moment, it appeared that Mariota's Heisman hopes were lost as well as Oregon's national title hopes.

And I asked him if off-field behavior should even be a factor in the Heisman.

"That's up to Heisman voters," he said. "It's out of my control, quite frankly. If people want to use that as a trait, they can.

"For myself, I just try to represent where I come from, my family, this university in the right light. There is no extra responsibility with being a Heisman Trophy candidate."

For a while, it looked like we were giving up on the idea. The Heisman Trust describes the award as being for the outstanding college player "whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity." This year they left off the "with integrity" part, later telling Sports Illustrated that was a mistake.

Year	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/A	AY/A	TD	Int	Rate
*2012	230	336	68.5	2677	8	9.1	32	6	163.2
*2013	245	386	63.5	3665	9.5	10.6	31	4	167.7
2014	254	372	68.3	3773	10.1	11.9	38	2	186.1

It's not about the other Heisman finalists. Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon needs 292 rushing yards in the Outback Bowl against Auburn to catch Barry Sanders' single-season record of 2,628, and Alabama receiver Amari Cooper broke an SEC record with 115 catches for the No. 1 team in the country.

They haven't made headlines for selfishness, either. But Mariota has stood out for, well, not trying to stand out. It was news when he got a speeding ticket. And note who wasn't even among the three finalists: Winston.

It's true that Winston hasn't had the season he did last year, but he is the defending Heisman winner on the defending national champs. And he also led the nation's only undefeated team. Winston has never lost a game.

And he wasn't even a Heisman finalist?

That will make the buildup easy for the College Football Playoff semifinal game Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl. It's Oregon vs. Florida State, Mariota vs. Winston.

And the hype will surely be oversimplified.

It's not that there isn't a place for cockiness. I've covered several Olympics, and it's a blast to see Usain Bolt and the other sprinters strut around. But there's a time for that kind of thing, and for football, this wasn't it.

This time, we needed a football hero.

Greg Couch covers college football for Bleacher Report. He also writes for The New York Times and was formerly a scribe for FoxSports.com and the Chicago Sun-Times. Follow him on Twitter @gregcouch.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article mistakenly indicated that Winston, Manziel and Newton are the three most recent Heisman winners. We regret the error.