After seeing how magnificently some of the recent winner performed in the pros, my confidence in the significance of the Heisman Trophy award certainly dwindled. The Heisman does not go to the Most Outsanding Player in college football. Nay, as my man John Fricke pointed out, it goes to the best offensive performer on an excellent BCS team who also happens to be an upper classman. The biggest challenge in giving the award to anyone but a quarterback, running back, or receiver, is the inability to quantify the other aspects of the game. As dominant as defensive lineman, linebackers, or offensive lineman might be, how do you represent their accomplishments and on-field ability using numbers the public understands? You just can’t. Touchdown passes and yards gained is the language we speak, not tackles nor pancake blocks. There was however one excellent development on Saturday night that indicated some progress in the awards ceremony — the Heisman went to an under classman for the first time.
Whether or not Tim Tebow deserved the award is debatable. Nonetheless, I was pleased to see that the voters were undeterred by his sophomore status, not settling for the lame argument that he would have two other years to win the prestigious award. If a player is outstanding, that’s all that should matter — nothing else. Tebow had a fantastic year, and may never perform at the same level he did this year in his collegiate future. He was rightfully rewarded for his season, and the voters finally showed some competence in bucking the trend. Hopefully in the future there will be continued flexibility in the mentality of the voters.
