Hidden Agenda in Heisman Voting Rears Its Ugly Head

Phillip Humphries by Contributor Written on December 14, 2008
56550_feature

Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy last night as the best college football player in America.

The Oklahoma quarterback has absolutely been the most deserving, tossing 48 touchdowns this year. He is a gentleman, both on and off the field.

The Sooners should be proud. The University should be proud. He was very gracious in the acceptance speech, showing the world his mom and dad's parenting skills were sharp. He gave credit to numerous players and coaches, his family and friends. I have no problem whatsoever with Bradford being the recipient.

Here is a shocking story, right behind all that is right in college football. It is reminiscent of the days when parents bicker alongside their kids who are trying to have fun as they play organized sports.

There were 904 ballots for the Heisman Trophy. The man who led the ballots in first-place votes was none other than Tim Tebow. He received 750 votes, 309 for first place (Bradford received 300 first-place votes). One would think with that type of a showing, Tebow was a shoo-in. That means that 154 voters chose three other players than Tebow on their ballot. Bradford received 811 votes, so even he was left off nearly 100 ballots.

Not so surprisingly, voters leaving Tebow off were primarily Southwest ones. Surprisingly, Tebow was completely left off of their ballots. Wow. That was the difference in voting that gave the Heisman to Bradford. While I am no Tebow fan, I truly believe that we are seeing an almost phenom play football when he takes the field. Nobody gives more. Nobody.

Now to the other 154 voters who left Tebow off completely, I make this statement: You either look like the stupidest people who ever voted, or you have an agenda to make the Big 12 something more than it is. Was Tebow on SportsCenter too much? Were you just tired of hearing his name over the water cooler at work?

As I stated before, Bradford was the legitimate winner. Tebow was not, but the hidden agenda from the 154 voters who determined that Tebow should have been left off the ballot is shameful.

(0)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

20 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

699
reads

20
comments

written on December 14, 2008 Opinion

The best Oklahoma newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.