B/R Exclusive: An Interview With Two-Time Heisman Winner Archie Griffin

Thursday, Ohio State legend Archie Griffin took time out of his day to talk to us and answered questions about the upcoming college football season, the Heisman Trophy and the new divisions in the Big Ten.

Below is the full text of the interview.

Tim Bielik: What do you think of the team Ohio State has got this season?

Archie Griffin: I'm pleased. I mean it's one game, but I'm pleased with what I see. I think Jim Tressel and his staff, they've done a terrific job with this team. We still have a lot of games to play and the judgment is certainly still out there on this (team) but I think we have a good season ahead of us.

TB: Is this team your national championship favorite? Or is there another team out there that you think is the favorite?

AG: You know, at this time of the year, it's hard to guess who's going to be the national champion. I mean if you look at what's coming back from a year ago, Alabama's gotta be probably the favorite. But at the same time, I'd like to believe that we're in a position where we can get a shot at that.

But in order to do that, you've got to take care of business at hand and you've got to win every game that you play. And the only way you're going to do it is if you're taking it as the old cliche says, 'one game at a time.' And you know, this week we've got Miami, a tough, tough, football team, a great program, a great tradition of football. And you've got to take care of that first before you can think any further.

TB: So you're second Heisman Trophy came in 1975, and the Buckeyes have another player that has a chance to win it in Terrelle Pryor. Do you think he has a good chance to win the Heisman Trophy this season?

AG: Oh I think Terrelle has a real good chance of winning it this year. Mark Ingram, who won it a year ago, was only a sophomore when he won it and is a junior now. But he's injured right now, so it seems as if he is going to miss his second game of the season. And I'm sure that he was probably the favorite since he won it a year ago, but Terrelle has a terrific opportunity to win it.

And when you're playing games like he's playing in on Saturday, that's a time for him to shine. And if he shines in that game and going through the Big Ten season and has the type of season is capable of having, yeah, I really think he has a real opportunity to win it.

TB: As the only player to ever win two Heisman Trophies, how much support do you give players who are looking to win their second, like Tim Tebow in 2008, and Mark Ingram is trying to do this season?

AG: Well I'm certainly in support of them. I want those players to have the best possible season that they can have, and if the best possible season is deserving of the Heisman Trophy, I have no problem voting for them to win the Heisman Trophy a second time.

You know people ask me about that all the time and I've always said that there's going to be someone who wins it a second time, and I feel like that since I've done it, there's others out there that also can and will do it. I even believe that there might be someone who wins it a third year.

TB: I've heard from you're interview on the HBO documentary about the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry that you treasure your three pairs of gold pants from beating Michigan.

AG: Well I cherish those three victories over Michigan because those are the type of games that you go to college, a place like Ohio State and a place like Michigan, to play in. I cherish those Heismans, I love those Heismans; they mean the world to me.

But I also must say that those victories we had and the fact that we didn't lose against Michigan means a big deal to me also.

TB: So what kind of memories do you have playing in the game under Woody against Bo (Schembechler) in the middle of the 10-Year War?

AG: Well they were all always very, very intense football games, and at the time, the Big Ten Championship was always at stake. So that made them even more intensified.

And Coach Hayes had his way of preparing me to play in that football game. It was his opinion that you had to prepare all year to play that game, and he did. And I think that's what made him successful in that series.

In that series, you go back and forth, he had his time, Bo had his time. The fact of the matter was it was a game you had to prepare all year for. And we did that and had some success during the years I was here under Coach Hayes. And I'll always appreciate that.

TB: The reason I bring up OSU-Michigan is that in the talks of the Big Ten creating divisions, Ohio State and Michigan are in different divisions. How do you feel about that and is it a problem if they cannot play the last Saturday of every season?

AG: Well, I like the fact that the Big Ten, I feel, balanced the divisions, and I think that's a good thing for the Big Ten. I think the most important thing is that Ohio State and Michigan play each other every year. That's what I think is most important.

Is it the last game of every year? You know, possibly, the last game of the season, I think it satisfies a lot of people. And a lot of people want to see it that way. But to me, if they played early November, late October, but in particular early November, and then had to play them again in the championship game,  it wouldn't be too bad.

I think it will be tough to play them two weeks in a row which could possibly happen the way it's set up right now. And that's just my personal opinion, but it could be tough and I see the day that that will happen.

TB: You do a lot of work with the Wendy's High School Heisman award. Tell me the type of work you do with it and what criteria you use to choose who receives the awards.

AG: Well I've been involved with the Wendy's High School Heisman award since it's inception in 1994, so we're in our 17th year. And over those 17 years, 250,000 high school seniors have been recognized by the Wendy's High School Heisman program, which I think is fabulous because when you think of those 250,000, you think of the criteria that it takes to be involved with the Wendy's High School Heisman.

To be involved, a senior in high school male or female, they have to have a B-grade point average or better, they need to be involved in high school sports, one of at least 27 sports sanctioned by the National Federation of State High Schools, and then they have to be involved in their community and in their school, doing good work in the community as well as in the school. 

And what you come up with is well-rounded men and women who are doing outstanding things in the community, the type of people you want to be the leaders of tomorrow."

TB: What kind of qualities did the winners from this previous year that set them apart from the other nominees?

AG: I think the fact that they are truly outstanding in the classroom. But what blows my mind more than anything else is the fact that even though they are doing outstanding things in the classroom, you have a lot of 4.0 or even better folks that are nominated for the award.

But the amount of community service that's being done by these young people that's what really, really stands out in my mind because they're doing so much, you just wonder how they have the time to do all they're doing and to maintain a great grade point average and to participate in sports all at the same time.

That's what blows my mind about it, and I think that Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy's) had a wonderful idea when he thought about putting the Wendy's High School Heisman together with the collegiate Heisman Trophy and then really coming up with this program because over the years, outstanding young people have been honored.

And when Dave did this, he was thinking about doing something that's going to recognize young people for the great things that they were doing because too many times, we saw the negative things that young people were doing. But this was a way to recognize outstanding young people for the things that they were doing.

TB: Last question I want to ask. Saturday is the big Ohio State-Miami game. Who do you think is going to win and what's going to be the final score?

AG: Well I certainly hope the Buckeyes win, but I don't know who's going to win it, but I certainly hope the Buckeyes win. Scorewise, I have no idea, but I think it's going to be an exciting offensive football game.

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