2010 Heisman Trophy Watch: Who's Behind the Dominance of Offensive Player Wins?

It's Week 6 and already the Heisman hype, speculation and exaggeration have somehow become almost as annoying as the coaches poll and Nick Saban’s straw fedora. That is quite an accomplishment. 

There’s no doubt that the Heisman’s a big deal, the granddaddy of all individual collegiate athletic awards. In fact, it may be the most celebrated individual award in all of sports, amateur or professional. After all, no other has it’s own primetime award ceremony and as much on or offseason buzz. Precisely because of its prestige, though, it’s an award in need of more accountability. 

The Heisman people claim the award goes to the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. And as Reggie Bush was so kind to remind us, the rules stipulate that the winner must be in compliance with the NCAA’s definition of a student-athlete. Fortunately for aspiring Gator candidates, this appears to mean you can steal a car or rob a house. You just can’t accept them as gifts.  

Despite the nod to integrity, academics and skill, we all know the Heisman is not necessarily awarded to the best college football player. It goes to the most-hyped running back or quarterback. On a top tier team. Who has a break-out game on national television.

If you lump fullbacks in with running backs (and I am) then in the 75-year history of the award there have been only five winners who didn’t play one of these positions: two ends (1936 and 1949), two wide receivers (1987 and 1991), and a cornerback (1997). 

This is a pity because we all know that defense wins championships and without a strong offensive line, the quarterback and running back would be on their backs. A lot. 

The voters responsible for this injustice are mainly sports journalists whom, according to the official Heisman website, are informed, competent and impartial. Hahaha. Guess they’ve never seen Bob Ryan on PTI. 

Turns out the journalist-voters are hand-picked by regional representatives, who in turn are hand-picked by the Heisman Trust. It’s unclear if this is done yearly or if they get a lifetime appointment. Although the Heisman website lists the names of the people on the trust, it does not include any biographical information about them or offer any clues as to how they were chosen as trustees in the first place. 

So I did a Google search. 

From what I can tell, most are lawyers and one is probably an artist. One real estate tycoon trustee was accused of harassing elderly rent-stabilized tenants in one of his flagship buildings (what a guy). And people with the same names as trustees have been accused of stealing more than $5,000 from a car wash and committing sex offenses in Massachusetts. Yikes. Hopefully these losers aren’t trustees—though maybe they played for Urban Meyer—but in the absence of official bios I can’t say for sure. 

There are other loose ends. Ballots are mailed out too early and are due too early. Pat Haden is still listed as the Far West representative, which I doubt is true now that he’s at USC. There is no information about balloting for 2010 and no current press releases, which is odd considering one of their past winners just gave his trophy back. And recently there was an O.J. Simpson trivia question on their home page.

Here’s a piece of advice for the marketing department: I’m not really sure you want to remind everyone that you let him keep the hardware (assuming he didn’t hock it to pay legal fees) since most people think he’s a murderer. I know that came later in life, but still.

Speaking of transgressions, now that Reggie Bush chose to forfeit his Heisman instead of having it stripped, I bet future winners can expect to have every nook and cranny of their lives and family homes investigated. 

Which means if Mark Ingram, Terrelle Pryor, Denard Robinson and anyone else whose name has popped up in the Heisman conversation hasn’t talked to his parents and posse yet, it’s time to get busy.

Some will say the Heisman is a private trust so they can do what they want. And they must be doing something right because college football’s buzzing with predictions and prognostications over who will win this year. Ad nauseam. 

But the disconnect between the trust’s off-the-field performance and what’s done on the field in the name of the Heisman is unnecessary and disappointing. Secrecy is critical if you’re a magician. If you’re handing out one of the ultimate individual sports awards, tell people who you are, what you do and why. Be transparent so you can be fair. Especially if that’s what you (and the NCAA) are expecting out of the student-athletes who are vying for your prize.