Eric Berry For Heisman '09

In 1997, Tennessee QB, Peyton Manning was robbed of the Heisman.

In a heist that was worthy of an E! True Hollywood Story, Charles Woodson, the Michigan DB, swooped in on the strength of a massive ESPN campaign to steal the Heisman away from the greatest QB in the history of the SEC (Until that guy named Tebow came along).

Woodson became the first and only defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Fast-forward to 2009. Tennessee has arguably the best defensive athlete in the history of the SEC.

Just take a look at the numbers from his freshmen and sophomore seasons: as a freshman in 2007 Berry had 86 tackles and five INT's for 222 yards and one TD. He was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year by the Sporting News, and was named first team freshman All-American.

Last year Berry was a sophomore. For an encore he intercepted seven passes for 265 yards and two TD's, broke up six passes, recorded three sacks, and had 72 tackles. He became the All-Time SEC leader in INT return yards and is just 14 yards away from the national mark.

In 2008 Berry was also named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and was a consensus First Team All-American and All-SEC.

He was a finalist for the Lott Trophy, Jim Thorpe Award, Chuck Bednarik Trophy, and won the Jake Tatum Award.

Now I do realize that Charles Woodson was a factor on offense and special teams as well, but I would argue that Berry's superior numbers and accolades on the defensive side alone would equal anything that Woodson did on both sides of the ball.

Woodson had 18 INT's for 81 return yards in his three-year career at Michigan. He had one sack and 182 career tackles. Woodson's primary position was cornerback.

So naturally, a safety such as Eric Berry would have bigger tackle numbers. But Berry's INT and return numbers are easily superior to Woodson.

Philip Fulmer tried to get Berry involved on offense last season with the WildBerry formation. He ended up with 44 yards on seven carries.

Simply put, Eric Berry is flat-out awesome with the ball in his hands. You don't rack up nearly 500 INT return yards in two seasons without that ability.

If Lane Kiffin can utilize Berry's athleticism on special teams and possibly prepare a better WildBerry package, he could very well become the second primarily defensive player and the only Tennessee player to win the Heisman.

I also believe that Tennessee would need to win at least 10 games. Not to mention Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida would probably have to have sub-par seasons from their star QB's to help pave the way.

All that was needed for the last defensive player to win a Heisman was an undefeated final season, a bias sports network, and a couple of acrobatic plays on national TV.  

His only competition was an SEC Champion QB with only four losses in his final three years. A QB that completed 62 percent of his career pass attempts for over 11,000 yards, and threw 90 TD's against 33 INT's.

It's time to officially start the Eric Berry for Heisman '09 campaign. I hope all of my fellow Lane Train ticket-holders will join in.