Heismanpundit

It’s simple: you have to be a somewhat likeable guy to win the Heisman. Think back on the people who have won the award. None (at the time) were considered jerks by the sports media. Maybe later, their bad sides were revealed. But not while in college. It takes a lot of media work to [...]

Sorry to all of you who think otherwise, but the odds are very good that there will never be another two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy. Why is that? Why has there not been a repeat winner since Archie Griffin of Ohio State in 1974-75? Well, as we know, it’s not easy to win the [...]

This Heismandment sets the statistical benchmarks in order to be considered a worthy candidate. Basically, if you are a running back that is not from a traditional power, you need to exceed the 2,000 yard mark just to have a chance (unless you are going for the NCAA career rushing record). If you are from [...]

This rule goes to the very essence of the bias in Heisman voting. It says that if you are a candidate on a traditional power–currently a group of 10 teams–you have a built-in advantage over your competitors. Those 10 teams are: Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas, Nebraska, Miami, Florida State and the [...]

The sixth Heismandment states that a player cannot be an obvious product of his team’s system. Also called the “Andre Ware” rule. Note the word “obvious.” This means that it has to do entirely with perception. If a player is perceived as being just another product of his system, even if he is not, he [...]

This Heismandment says that the winner must be either (a) a top player on a national title contender, (b) a player who puts up good numbers for a traditional power with a good record, or (c) a player who puts up superlative single-season or career numbers on a good team or whose numbers are way [...]

This Heismandment says that the winner needs to have good name recognition. Obviously, a voter cannot vote for a player unless he or she knows who the player is. There are some players who become seared–seared–into the conciousness of the college football public. This is another reason why upperclassmen have a distinct advantage. They have [...]

This Heismandment states that the winner must have put up good numbers in big games on TV. This is fairly self explanatory. Beano Cook boiled it down even further, saying “You must either play for Notre Dame or beat Notre Dame to win the Heisman.” While we wouldn’t go that far, the spirit of what [...]

Heismandment No. 2 states that the winner must be a junior or senior. This is born out by the fact that the award had, until the last two seasons, never been given to an underclassmen. Not once. As events of the past two seasons have shown, it is now possible for a sophomore to win [...]

The first Heismandment is a very important one. It stipulates that the winner of the Heisman must be a quarterback, a running back or a multi-threat athlete. This is key because every year you will see preseason Heisman lists that include defensive ends, tight ends, offensive linemen, cornerbacks or linebackers on them. A random columnist [...]