Vince Young Says He Wouldn't Accept the Heisman: Thanks, but No Thanks

"I don't want the Heisman."

This is a statement that would seem unimaginable for any football player ever to utter, but this is exactly what Vince Young told ESPN today.

Young was speaking to the possibility that he would be awarded highest individual honor in college football four years after he was named runner-up for the award to Reggie Bush, who today was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for accepting improper benefits during his time at USC.

While Bush, along with USC, has been forced to forfeit the national title from 2004 and all of the victories from 2005 as a result of the infraction, the status of Bush's Heisman is still up in the air—the Heisman trophy is not awarded by the NCAA, but rather by the Heisman Trophy Trust, an independent organization.

The decision to strip Bush of the award seems fairly obvious; after all, one of the criterion for being given the award in the first place is that the recipient must be in compliance with NCAA bylaws. Despite this, Rob Whalen, executive director of the Trust, declined to comment when asked what would become of the award if Bush were to be ruled ineligible.

According to Yahoo! Sports, however, a source close to the organization has said that board members have had serious talks about what they would do if this exact situation were to transpire.

In the 80-year history of the award, no player has ever been stripped of the Heisman. Beyond that, no player has ever received more first place votes for the award than Bush did in 2005. While taking away the award would set a significant precedent, the sanctity of the Heisman itself would be violated if the Trust stood idly by and did nothing in response to the ruling.

While Young was visibly disappointed at not winning the award in 2005, everyone knows who got the last laugh in that situation. If the Heisman committee was going to do a re-vote, it should have been on January 7, 2006, the day after the national championship game—not a single person on either sideline had any questions as to who was the best player in college football at the conclusion of that epic contest.

Young ended his college career with absolutely nothing to prove, especially to the Heisman committee, so declining to accept the award by default is a suitable and classy move on his part.

Beyond that, coming up short in Heisman voting may have been a blessing in disguise.

Consider this Texas fans: If Young had been awarded the Heisman, would the Longhorns have won the national championship in 2005?

It's a reasonable question.

To defeat USC, who many touted as the greatest team ever heading into the contest, in Southern California no less, it took one of the most remarkable individual performances in football history.

There's no doubt that Young would have been motivated to win Texas its first national championship in 35 years if he had won the Heisman. However, the fact that he was snubbed after having a historical season in which he became the first player in the history of Division 1-A football to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards a single season most definitely gave him an extra step in his gazelle-like stride.

So while Vince Young has garnered many awards and distinctions in his career, it appears that "Heisman Trophy winner" will not be one of them—and the legend in cleats is just fine with that.

"Folk hero" has a better ring to it anyway.