Why the Heisman Award is a Joke

Photo: Brett Deering/Getty Images

The college football regular season is over, and all the conference championship games have been played.  The only things that are left are the bowl games and the college football awards ceremonies.  The biggest ceremony, of course, is the Heisman ceremony that will be held this Saturday December 8, at 8:00 p.m.  Even though this is the biggest and most well known award given out in college football, it shouldn’t be.  The Heisman trophy ceremony is a complete joke and not much stock should be put into it from college football fans all around the country.  I won’t be watching it, and this is why you shouldn’t bother to tune in Saturday night either:

The Heisman Trophy by definition is the trophy that is given to the most outstanding player in college football.  There are 130 FBS college football programs and 125 FCS programs, so the amount of players that have the opportunity to win this trophy should be limitless.  But in reality, this number is limited.  VERY LIMITED.  Before the season even starts, you can pretty much guess who the Heisman finalists will be.  Look at the top five ranked teams and find their quarterback.  One of those players will win the Heisman trophy.  Every now and then a running back from one of the top five teams will win the trophy, but that is not common.  Since the year 2000, 17 players have won the Heisman trophy.  15 of those 17 were quarterbacks and the other two were running backs.  So you’re telling me the “most outstanding player in college football” every year is a quarterback?  That cannot be right.  What about defense?  There are many, many exceptional players on the defensive side of the ball who could very easily qualify for the most outstanding player in college football, but they won’t get the honor because they play defense.  Only one defensive player has ever won the Heisman trophy since its inception in 1935 and that was cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997.  You cannot tell me the best player in college football every year is on offense.

Also, what about players on teams that aren’t top five or top ten in the nation?  These players get left out because of their team’s performance.  This is an individual award for the best player, not the best player on the best team.  If a team goes 0-12 on the season, but has a top of the line player, that player should be a Heisman finalist.  The Heisman system is not a fair one.  It leaves out WAY too many good players in favor of quarterbacks on an undefeated or one-loss team.  It should come as no surprise that this year’s two most popular finalists are quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa from Oklahoma and Alabama.  They are good players, sure, but we are leaving out so many other players across the country who are deserving to be a finalist and perhaps a winner.  The winner on Saturday night will be Kyler Murray (first reported by The Sports Chief, make sure you give us credit).  It is so predictable…so boring.  Congrats Kyler, I hope you go on to have a very successful MLB career.

P.S. In 1945 and 1954, it was a fullback that won the Heisman Trophy.  Man, how much the game has changed.

Garett