Mail Call

A few offerings from the in box:

Greetings. I hit your site daily to follow the heisman race. Nice comprehensive work.

It amazes me how year after year Tennessee’s heisman
entrant gets screwed in this race. Am I saying that
Erik Ainge should be the heisman front runner? Of
course not…although you could make a case for him
along with every other major candidate.

A little history for you…. The best I am aware UT
has had FOUR heisman runner ups. Hank Lauricella in 50
or 51. Johnny Majors (getting screwed along with Jim
Brown in favor of Paul Hourning winning the award on
an embarrassing 3 win team….the last guy to win the
heisman on a losing team. Heath Shuler (when the
heisman was awarded to Charlie Ward in July)…and of
course the most amazing rip off in Heisman
history…Woodson over Peyton.

Now here we are again with UT having a great
candidate. Ainge is in the top 5 or so in passing
efficiency against the best collegiate defenses in
America. He’s also probably the top QB taken by the
NFL if he comes out after this year due to his 6-6
frame and his gun for an arm.

What about an entry discussing how UT players have
been ripped off through the years…and giving Erik
Ainge a fair shake this year. Ainge deserves to be in
NYC at least assuming he continues at this pace and
throws up 9 or 10 wins.

Cordially & Go Vols,

Jim Copeland

Knoxville

Thanks for the letter, Jim. I feel your pain regarding the frustration of having four Heisman runner ups. Winning the Heisman is not an easy thing. Alabama doesn’t have a trophy and Penn State has only one. Sometimes the chips fall in a certain way and Tennessee has been on the wrong side of that a few times.

Certainly, there has historically been some biased voting patterns in the Heisman vote. For instance, there wasn’t a West Coast Heisman winner until 1962.

I think Tennessee’s failure to win one is part bad luck and part a result of Rocky Top’s lack of instutional Heisman power. For some reason, Volunteers just don’t resonate with Heisman voters as much as players from some other schools do. Maybe they don’t like the color Orange….

As for Ainge, it is pretty rare for a player to come off such a bad year and make his way to New York. I think Tennessee fans are better off looking at all the yards he is putting up this season as a down payment on next year’s Heisman race, when he will have a much better chance and more hype going in.

Hi, I was reading your 10 rules and explanations today. I realized Adrian Peterson does fit all 10 of your rules and on the explanations Sept 2004 you said he had dominant physical ability thus he was someone who might win as a freshman in a weak crowd. I have followed football since birth, my Dad was a coach, and Adrian Peterson is someone who is consistant, focused, and good. I mean really good. I think he is one of the best I have seen ever. I really do. I just thought by putting him in the mix again it would either hold up or wouldn’t hold up. He definitely has your top 10 pegged. Other than Troy Smith I don’t see anyone else coming near him with consistancy and ability. I’ve watched every game he played since signing with OU and he has never had a bad game.

Thanks again for your time
Stacey
San Diego AD fan

Stacey, there is no doubt that Peterson is a physical phenom. I actually thought he had a great shot at ending up with the Heisman, but then he got hurt. Unfortunately, the Heisman was not in Peterson’s fortune. But he’ll soon have millions of dollars to salve that wound in the years to come.

where is ray rice on your list (for 2007)?? you have all these running backs, like jonathan stewart and jammal charles who are on the list who do not perform nearly
as well as ray rice and have a worse team record, but
because they play on “bigger” teams they are more
legitimate candidates than ray rice? that is
absolutely absurd. rice is the best running back in
the country, and because of that he deserves immediate
heisman consideration. John.

Rice is currently No. 10 on my “If the vote were held today” list.

But playing for Rutgers does hurt him, unless he can put up ridiculous numbers–over 2,000 in a season would help.

I don’t think he is the best in the country. The best running back in the country wouldn’t have gotten caught from behind on that big run he had against Pitt.

I just want to say that I enjoy your blog very much and it gets me my college football fix when I’m not watching games on Saturday. I’ve read enough of your entries to know that you know the Pac-10 is more then just USC (mainly referring to the fact that you give credit to Cal players where credit is due). My question is about Marshawn Lynch. What if Ohio St loses to Michigan but Hart doesn’t have an amazing game. Cal beats USC and USC beats ND. Also Louisville beats WV. We can also assume Marshawn Lynch continues to be great and Slaton and Hart give pretty good but not great performances. Another assumption is the Bears are the Pac-10 champions with a 9-0 conf record and 11-1 overall record and likely to go to the Rose Bowl. Do you think this not-impossible turn of events will at least give Lynch an invite to NY or do you think the fact that Cal is an emerging program and not an established program will handicap him too much? – Jeff

I actually think that a scenario like the one you laid out would definitely result in a Top 3 finish for Lynch and a trip to NYC. If Lynch could do that, he would be a Heisman front runner if he chose to return to Cal for his senior season. But as you noted, a lot has to happen and the odds of everything falling in place just like that is remote.

Thanks to all who wrote in and keep ‘em coming!