The Heisman has officially become a joke

[GabeMartini]

Not even inviting Graham Harrell?

Are you Franking kidding me???

Troy Smith was horrible. Tebow over McFadden was almost unbearable.

But now THIS?!?!

What more does a quarterback need to do? All of the other ones included lost a game this year.

What a load of feces. 

[dennab]

It'll be Tebow even though the other two guy's numbers dwarf him

[russell33]

It'll be Tebow even though the other two guy's numbers dwarf him

yeah and thats pitiful. DMAC got hosed, now the 3 qbs from the big 12 will as well.

[pigz]

I like what Leach had to say about it

"If Graham is not invited to the Heisman, they ought to quit giving out the award," Leach said. "It is a shameless example of politics ruling over performance. The other guys are deserving, but he has earned a place alongside them."

[StoernerJonesFan]

I like what Leach had to say about it

"If Graham is not invited to the Heisman, they ought to quit giving out the award," Leach said. "It is a shameless example of politics ruling over performance. The other guys are deserving, but he has earned a place alongside them."

Thanks, Leach...you're only what 3 or 4 years off...

[StoernerJonesFan]

"The ESPN -HOME DEPOT AWARD," NUFF SAID!!!

-Presented by Mark May

[Acorn hog]

My feeling are short and sweet. I do not watch it or respect it.
The Heisman reminds me of the Presidential eleciton.  The Media has the power. It's all about money and politics!!!

[rude1]

Funny how they are changing the rules. When it was Tebow who had the numbers last year and Mcfadden was clearly the best player, it was "you can't ignore the numbers Tebow is putting up". Now that Tebow doesn't have the greatest numbers it's suddenly become about "who is the best player, and leader." The award is meaningless and nothing more than a popularity contest.

[REALTOR Hog]

I hate it.

Enough said.

[Flying Razorback]

Well I just became sick to my stomach.  Tebow wasn't even in the conversation until this past Saturday.

[WilsonHog]

Y'all are joking me with all of this outrage, right?

Hey, I'm a cynic. Always have been, so I'll go ahead and tell it like it is.

College football isn't the same game it was 20 or 30 years ago. What used to be games have now become a series of media events fueled by an obscene river of money. Did you know at one time the winner of the Heisman Trophy received a telephone call informing him of the news? Now the finalists get an hour-long show in prime time on a television network devoted exclusively to sports.

Given the current nature of the business, the Heisman Trophy has become as much about which player would put the best face on college football as anything else. Tim Tebow is a marketing guy's dream, followed closely perhaps by Colt McCoy. But a guy named Graham Harrell from Lubbock, Texas? Please. Who wants to buy that? No sparkle in that. No great backstory there.

(BTW...all of you guys who cream your pants over the prospect of watching East Bugtussle play Ichokemychicken U in the Bankrupt Savings and Loan Bowl are contributing to the river of money that helps float the travesty of which you complain.)             

[Pigdiana Jones]

The heisman becoming a joke happened in DMAC's sophomore year. Why should you be surprised now?

[SteveInArk]

Funny how they are changing the rules. When it was Tebow who had the numbers last year and Mcfadden was clearly the best player, it was "you can't ignore the numbers Tebow is putting up". Now that Tebow doesn't have the greatest numbers it's suddenly become about "who is the best player, and leader." The award is meaningless and nothing more than a popularity contest.

Absolutely true!  The ESPN machine is sickening.

[josh_sec33]

"A sophomore shouldn't win the Heisman"
"Tim Tebow could become the first sophomore Heisman winner"

That's all I needed to hear.

[FelixJonesorDMAC?]

Heisman is a Sham.  I'm not a Mike Leach fan, but his comments are dead on. 

Crabtree is more deserving than Tebow. 

If Harrell is a product of the system, wait until Tebow hits the NFL.  He is the ultimate system QB, case in point....Alex Smith. 

[newera]

OK, is the Heisman not for the most valuable player to a team or the most talented player in the country?

If it is the most valuable, then Tebow is most definitely. He runs the offense, he pumps up the defense, and isn't afraid to get into people's faces. He IS that program.

In talent, you could give it to a ton of players, if that was the award, then it should just be given to the first pick in the draft. end of discussion.

[SRFL]

The heisman becoming a joke happened in DMAC's sophomore year. Why should you be surprised now?

No, it became a joke much earlier than that.  Eddie George over Troy Davis.  Danny Wuerffel over Troy Davis.  If you have to, google Troy Davis.  It's not about who is best and hasn't been for a long long time.

[Torqued pork]

Charles Woodson winning over Peyton Manning is when the Heisman lost it's credibility with me.

[donewithdale]

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8853534

Whitlock's story is pretty accurate about what ESPN has become and their influence on sports. 

The Heisman was already a little ridiculous with winners like Gino Torretta and Manning getting shafted because of the late season push by ABC and ESPN(not sure they were with the same company yet) for Woodson in order to hype the Mich - Oh St game.  But once ESPN evolved into the current monster it is, the award became a real joke.  Its now an award given by ESPN to the qb of a high profile, traditional power who is ranked high.  Wuerfel, Leinart, Jason White, Troy Smith, Tebow(the most deserving of most any qb winner) or in other words Florida QB, USC QB, OU QB, Ohio St QB, Florida QB. 

A RB has to play for USC or Oh St to have any real shot.  If Beanie Wells had been healthy all season and Oh St was in the top 5, then Beanie would be in the race.  But now the invited are QBs from Texas, OU and Florida.  In the preseason some of the ESPN mouthpieces were making Sanchez a Heisman frontrunner because they thought USC would go undefeated.  I'm not sure when this criteria came about.  Probably was a production meeting with Fowler and ESPN management. 

And we need more Mike Leaches.  Its past time ESPN is called on their crap.  The NCAA has sold out to them and that is not going to be all positive. 

[WilsonHog]

When I was growing up back in the dark ages college football was played one day per week - Saturday - and there were one or two games televised each Saturday. I can't tell you how many Razorback games my father and I listened to on the radio, because that was the only coverage out there unless I was lucky enough to get myhands on a ticket.

Now live college football can pretty be seen at least five out of seven days of any particular week, with Saturday being the Holy Day of college football. Coverage starts by 9:00 a.m. and extends to midnight. Multiple networks, multiple games. And if there isn't any live football available, chances are one of ESPN's sister stations will have a replay available.

That doesn't come cheap, and I'm not talking about costs of production here. Some influence is almost inevitable, right or wrong.

It's not unlike what I would expect if you were an AD and I walked in with a check made out to your school for $250,000. Don't think I'm not going to have some influence over who "our" next coach is going to be.

That's the way the world works.     
 

[Boarcephus]

Charles Woodson winning over Peyton Manning is when the Heisman lost it's credibility with me.

Beat me to it.  That's was it for me.  Manning stood for all that is good in collegiate athletics, had the stats  and they gave it to that jerk. 

[hawg IQ]

and whoever the espn as$ Ki$$ers want should be named the winner!

I agree a total joke. After Dmac got crapped all over by them (ESPN)
it devalued the award.

[Oliver]

The Heisman trophy to me is the most overrated trophy in all of sports.  I know that college football players love to win it and the media hypes it up more than any other "MVP" trophy out there. 

But unlike other "MVP" awards, it never goes to the best player in college football.  It goes to the best player on the best team (or one of the best teams) in college football.  It seems that when you win it, your career goes down the toilet and you lose your bowl game.  When was the last time a Heisman trophy winner did anything of significance in the NFL?  I have to go all the way back to 1988 when Barry Sanders won it to really find a player who had a stand out career in the NFL. 

[rzrbaxfan]

Charles Woodson winning over Peyton Manning is when the Heisman lost it's credibility with me.

Same here.  I am not a Manning fan, but I think he got hosed.  I lost interest then, and regained it with Dmac, then remembered why I lost interest before.  I will not watch a Heisman presentation unless a hog is one of the nominees.  Until then, I don't care.

[hamsam]

Charles Woodson winning over Peyton Manning is when the Heisman lost it's credibility with me.

yep,me too. And I don't even like Manning ..........................but he got cornholed!

[HawgAdvocate]

The final voting must not have been close enough to even include Harrell. Oh well.

[bartonbear]

Well, I can agree with Leach because he is right on and those Big 12 defenses are definitely questionable making all three of those Big 3 quarterbacks from that conference have bloated stats. I also know that DMAC got the shaft last year, but that wasn't Tebow's doing. Tebow is a good, solid kid with great ability and character. How can anyone look at what he's done and say he isn't one of the best players in the country. He's always team first and gives his all for the good of the program. Plus, his results on th efield speak for themselves. I know I'll get canned for this, but Tebow isn't ESPN, and he had nothing to do with all the hype last year. He simply benefited from it and was gracious throughout. Anyone with his character should be applauded not torn down.

[StoernerJonesFan]

Well, I can agree with Leach because he is right on and those Big 12 defenses are definitely questionable making all three of those Big 3 quarterbacks from that conference have bloated stats. I also know that DMAC got the shaft last year, but that wasn't Tebow's doing. Tebow is a good, solid kid with great ability and character. How can anyone look at what he's done and say he isn't one of the best players in the country. He's always team first and gives his all for the good of the program. Plus, his results on th efield speak for themselves. I know I'll get canned for this, but Tebow isn't ESPN, and he had nothing to do with all the hype last year. He simply benefited from it and was gracious throughout. Anyone with his character should be applauded not torn down.

I'll be the first to say that Tebow is a class-act guy and probably (in terms of character) one of the best to walk on the football field.  He is an amazing athlete and has had undoubtedly one of the greatest careers as a college QB.
But he is also reaping the benefits of being a system QB to a coach that likes to pad stats and a horrible monstrous hype machine (ESPiN).  He might not have done anything wrong, but he still won an award that should not have gone to him (not the best player in the country, still a soph., etc) and frankly I do find him pretty smug.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Not even inviting Graham Harrell?

Are you Franking kidding me???

Troy Smith was horrible. Tebow over McFadden was almost unbearable.

But now THIS?!?!

What more does a quarterback need to do? All of the other ones included lost a game this year.

What a load of feces. 

It is crazy. Harrell re-wrote records. At the very least he should be invited. And the Heisman has been slanted towards offensive players which is wrong. The Heisman Trophy is supposed to go to "the most outstanding player in college football each year", according to the criteria for the Heisman. Obviously the performance of offensive players in general, and that of WR's, QB's and RB's in particular, are more easily measured in terms of outstanding performance, but that leaves a good many outstanding players out of consideration. So in that regard, the award really is a sham. It should be an award for the most outstanding and most highly promoted offensive player in the country.

[pigz]

I find the heistman trophy to be shallow and pedantic

[HawgAdvocate]

I'll be the first to say that Tebow is a class-act guy and probably (in terms of character) one of the best to walk on the football field.  He is an amazing athlete and has had undoubtedly one of the greatest careers as a college QB.
But he is also reaping the benefits of being a system QB to a coach that likes to pad stats and a horrible monstrous hype machine (ESPiN).  He might not have done anything wrong, but he still won an award that should not have gone to him (not the best player in the country, still a soph., etc) and frankly I do find him pretty smug.

Every QB plays in a system. Thus, every QB is a system QB. I wish DMac would have won as well, but Tebow dominated last year. His 40+ TDs say it all.

Yeah, a lot of those were short yardage plays, but he's also the guy who drove down the field to get the ball in the endzone in the first place.

Just keeping it real....

[solix]

OK, is the Heisman not for the most valuable player to a team or the most talented player in the country?

i thought the maxwell was the mvp.  the heisman is supposed to be player of the year

[PIGINAPOKE]

[hog.goblin]

Funny how they are changing the rules. When it was Tebow who had the numbers last year and Mcfadden was clearly the best player, it was "you can't ignore the numbers Tebow is putting up". Now that Tebow doesn't have the greatest numbers it's suddenly become about "who is the best player, and leader." The award is meaningless and nothing more than a popularity contest.

Well said

[hog.goblin]

I like what Leach had to say about it

"If Graham is not invited to the Heisman, they ought to quit giving out the award," Leach said. "It is a shameless example of politics ruling over performance. The other guys are deserving, but he has earned a place alongside them."

I agree Graham should be invited, but wasn't it Leach who didn't allow Graham to have one single live interview with the media?  He allowed him to do a 10-minute phone interview.

That shouldn't really be a factor for the award, but if you are going to avoid the system that sets the rules you can't expect to be invited.

[Tripod1]

I put no credit in the award after the Manning shafting.  I too use to listen to the Hogs on the radio because the market was not saturated with games on tv at the time.  I did have a problem with Tebow winning last year simply because DMAC was a Hog and I wanted him to win.  This year, if I was starting a team and had to pick my QB from these top 4, then Tebow is my pick.  A winner and a good person so I have no problem if he somehow wins the award this year as well.

[Pigdiana Jones]

Charles Woodson winning over Peyton Manning is when the Heisman lost it's credibility with me.

That is true too. We see who's been at or near the top of the league for so long now. Who will actually go to the Hall of Fame when it is said and over with.

[scorekeeper]

Every QB plays in a system. Thus, every QB is a system QB.

That is very true. I wish everyone would understand that. The guys prove that they can play. I say its up to the NFL coaches to draft talent that they can develop into their system.

[solix]

a system qb is meant to be that you could take a person every year and replace the qb and it would be the same.  if tebow leaves, you can't just throw another guy in and have the same offense.  texas tech, you can, thus a sytem qb

[kgr]

When ESPN marketed the big 12 and Mich. for the heis-woman over P. Manning, it was clear . . . . well read these posts above.

[GabeMartini]

a system qb is meant to be that you could take a person every year and replace the qb and it would be the same.  if tebow leaves, you can't just throw another guy in and have the same offense.  texas tech, you can, thus a sytem qb

Really? Was Tebow playing for Meyer out in Utah when they made it to the BCS?

[Beaverfever]

The Heisman is no doubt becoming a joke.  It has basically turned into the award for the quarterback on the most glamorous team in the country.  However, this year I think the candidates aren't too terribly bad.  I think if you replaced Bradford with Crabtree it would be a pretty decent list. 

[scorekeeper]

a system QB is meant to be that you could take a person every year and replace the QB and it would be the same.  if tebow leaves, you can't just throw another guy in and have the same offense.  texas tech, you can, thus a sytem qb

And that's why they have dual-threat QB's. Vince Young and Colt McCoy, yes Colt is a better passer but both run the ball...So is every QB at USC(west) a system QB? The term system quarterback was probably made up by ESPN just to discredit guys who put up big numbers. Why is there no such talk of a linebacker being a system linebacker since his coach likes to blitz or a runningback getting a load of yards being a system back. Should there be an asterisk by system coaches names in the record book? It's like this, the defense has a job to stop the offense. 

[donewithdale]

And that's why they have dual-threat QB's. Vince Young and Colt McCoy, yes Colt is a better passer but both run the ball...So is every QB at USC(west) a system QB? The term system quarterback was probably made up by ESPN just to discredit guys who put up big numbers. Why is there no such talk of a linebacker being a system linebacker since his coach likes to blitz or a runningback getting a load of yards being a system back. Should there be an asterisk by system coaches names in the record book? It's like this, the defense has a job to stop the offense.

System qb's are being addressed in another thread and Erie is doing a fine job defining them for you. 

[cityhog]

"A sophomore shouldn't win the Heisman"
"Tim Tebow could become the first sophomore Heisman winner"

That's all I needed to hear.

That just made me mad all over again.  Thanks.

[scorekeeper]

System qb's are being addressed in another thread and Erie is doing a fine job defining them for you. 

Great and I'm going to copy my post and put it there.

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Not even inviting Graham Harrell?

Are you Franking kidding me???

Troy Smith was horrible. Tebow over McFadden was almost unbearable.

But now THIS?!?!

What more does a quarterback need to do? All of the other ones included lost a game this year.

What a load of feces. 

I've know this ever since last year. I'm pulling for Tebow because he is the only guy in Dmac's league.

[majp51]

Not even inviting Graham Harrell?

Are you Franking kidding me???

Troy Smith was horrible. Tebow over McFadden was almost unbearable.

But now THIS?!?!

What more does a quarterback need to do? All of the other ones included lost a game this year.

What a load of feces. 

The sad thing is , Tebow is really a worthy player, who is quite likable. He's getting hate because of ESPN's man love on Meyer, the Gators and Tebow.

The Heisman lost all credibility when Gordie Lauckbaum failed to win. And then it became a farce when Peyton Manning lost to Charles Woodson

[3kgthog]

It became a joke last season when they gave it to a sophomore over the most dangerous player in college football. Tebow didn't beat the national champs by himself, Dmac did.

[bartonbear]

It became a joke last season when they gave it to a sophomore over the most dangerous player in college football. Tebow didn't beat the national champs by himself, Dmac did.

I love Dmac just as much as everyone else, but we don't beat LSU last year without Hillis' performance. It's sad that people are hating on Tebow b/c of some network. The kid is a good kid and a great football player. There's no way around it. Stop hatin'