The Heist-man Trophy

Yes, that's my clever name for Mark Ingram stealing the Heisman tonight. Feel free to use that one.

I yearn for the day when we all stop taking the Heisman seriously. Once again, it has gone to a QB or RB on the best team. The last time it didn't go to a player fitting that description was Ron Dayne, who's Wisconsin team won the Big Ten (but wasn't part of the national title hunt), and who set the collegiate record for rushing yards in a career. The Heisman is fraught with so many biases that it's a joke to even consider it a serious award.

This isn't to say that Mark Ingram is a bad player, and actually this doesn't rate among the worst Heisman votes (Gino Toretta will forever hold that distinction). But there's no way an objective observer would say Ingram was THE best player in college football. 5 years from now, we might not even say he was the best RB on Alabama's roster (that may be Trent Richardson). If you had to pick a RB to win this award, it was Toby Gerhart. But if you truly wanted to pick the best player in college football, it was Ndamukong Suh, and frankly it wasn't close. Suh is the best collegiate defender I've seen since probably Terrell Suggs at Arizona State, when he racked up 20 sacks in one season. The fact that Suh finished behind Colt McCoy is a disagrace. Didn't we all just a week ago see Suh kick the ever-living shit out of Colt McCoy? Seriously, I want the names of the people who watched that game and still felt that McCoy was a better football player than Suh.

Speaking of names that I want, I want to know the 43 people who gave first-place votes to Tim Tebow. Tebow has had a great college career, and I don't question the Heisman that he did win. But there's just no way Tebow was the best college football player this season. This is not a career achievement award, this is the best player of this season. Tebow was not that guy. Anyone who voted for him was handing out a career achievement, and those people should be barred from voting. I am not even close to kidding about that; we need to weed the idiots who decide Suh can't win the Heisman because he plays DT, or who think Tebow should win it because of his career achievements.

I do feel like we're making progress with the Heisman. Sophomores have now won it 3 years in a row, which is saying something since no underclassman had ever won it before this run. Gerhart finishing 2nd on an 8-4 Stanford team is progress. Suh even being invited is progress. However, you still see the stupid biases pop out with Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow being invited. The three best college QBs this season, in my opinion, were Case Keenum, Jimmy Clausen and Kellen Moore at Boise St. McCoy struggled badly against the best defenses he faced this season (Oklahoma and Nebraska, and hey guess what, Alabama can play little D as well). Tebow had what was basically a good but not great season. But because of their name value, and their team's high rankings they were invited to New York and received numerous first place votes.

You really have to wonder what it will take for a defensive player to ever win it again. I know Charles Woodson won the Heisman, but that is such an extreme anomaly that it shouldn't even be considered. It's like judging Tony Delk's NBA career based on his 50 point game; it's so out of line that's it ridiculous to even consider it. Suh had a lot of things going in his favor. It was a weak Heisman field with no real standouts, and he had just dominated on national TV a week before the vote. If a defensive player can't win it with his production, and such a dominant performance still fresh in people's minds, then you really have to wonder what it will take for a defensive player to ever win it again. Terrell Suggs and his 20+ sacks in one season didn't even get him a sniff of Heisman acclaim. What really saddens me is that Suh's dominant performance came against Texas and Colt McCoy, and yet the majority of voters STILL felt that McCoy was more deserving of the Heisman. Who in the hell are these people?

Ndamukong Suh was the best player in college football this season. The fact that he didn't win the Heisman shows what a disgrace that award is. What's funny, at least to me, is that most of the Heisman voters would probably tell you that you shouldn't vote for a president based on superficial things like race, religion, or sexual orientation. But they'll turn right around and vote on the Heisman based on superificial things like the player's team's won-loss record, his position and his career achievements. I really hate these people. And I still want to know the 43 people who voted Tim Tebow first on their Heisman ballot.