2011 Heisman Trophy: Ball Should Have Won, but Invite Was Classy

Last night the 2011 Heisman Trophy ceremony awarded the biggest individual prize of college football to Robert Griffin III, also known as RG3.  The Baylor quarterback had an outstanding season, leading the often terrible Baylor Bears to a 9-3 finish.

Griffin was deserving of the honor after breaking the record for passing efficiency in a season, but the firestorm of support for RG3 only found real national support in the last two weeks, as Andrew Luck and Trent Richardson failed to make big statements in their final games.  But the national focus should have been on another record-breaker, Montee Ball.

Ball accounted for 38 touchdowns rushing and receiving and added one more passing for 39 total, which matches the record 39 touchdowns scored by Barry Sanders.  Sanders will likely be passed by Ball in the Rose Bowl, as there has been no more consistent performer week to week than Ball.

Perhaps that is why voters overlooked Ball, as consistent solid play that adds up to record-breaking numbers is less flashy than putting up a couple "Heisman moment" type games with good play most other weeks.  However, that does not excuse the Heisman voters for largely overlooking the breaking of a record that has not come close to being touched since Sanders set it.

Additionally, Ball had better statistics than Trent Richardson, who ended up well ahead of Ball in the voting results (Richardson garnered 978 points while Ball had 348).  Richardson had 20 rushing touchdowns, 1583 rushing yards, and an average of 6.0 yards per carry.  Ball had 32 touchdowns rushing, 1759 yards, and a 6.4 yards per carry average.

Although Alabama will be playing for a national title with one loss, Wisconsin's two losses were on Hail Mary final drive passes on the road.  Plus, Ball has shared the spotlight with Russell Wilson and James White and still put up huge numbers.  There is little doubt Ball will go down as one of the best players to not win the Heisman Trophy.

The most surprising result of the Heisman Ceremony was the spread of the voting results and the invite list.  Griffin won with 1687 points, Andrew Luck had 1407, Richardson had 978, Ball had 348, and Tyrann Mathieu received 327.  In the past few years, the Heisman Trust has tended to invite only three or four players to New York.

Given the voting results this year, inviting only three players seemed appropriate. However, someone in the Heisman Trust must have recognized the injustice of completely looking over Montee Ball's season. Thus, he and Mathieu also received invites despite not really being anywhere close to the top three in voting.

To whomever that person is, thank you for honoring a great achievement despite the voters overlooking this accomplishment.  The Big Ten does not get many Heisman finalists, so it was nice to see Ball carrying the flag for the conference in New York.  If Ball returns next season, nobody should overlook him this time.

So despite my disagreement with the voters for the Heisman Trophy, the Heisman Trust made a classy move by inviting Montee Ball that should not be overlooked.  Maybe next year Montee Ball will wear the Superman socks and carry home the hardware.