National Collegiate Athletic Association - The Heisman Trophy: the story of an American icon and its winners

Cory McCartneys The Heisman Trophy isnt a dry listing of facts but a living, breathing tribute to what makes the award so special. Well researched and flawlessly written. You will learn a lot. I know I did.

Tony Barnhart, SEC Network, Gridiron Now

Understanding the origins of our institutions, and the reluctant characters that comprise them, is central to our ability to be inspired and achieve more. It brings greatness within reach of all who seek it in our daily lives. Cory McCartney has done a masterful job of unpacking the history of the Heisman Trophy while leaving its patina which adds to the value of college footballs currency: TRADITION!

Spencer Tillman, Sr. Analyst, FOX Sports 1; CEO, Axiom Sports Productions

A must-read for college football nuts, The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners illustrates the rich tradition behind the most coveted award in sports. McCartneys storytelling sheds light on the trends and narratives that have shaped the Heismans long history and offers a peek inside its exclusive fraternity of winners.

Zac Ellis, Writer and Digital Media Editor at Vanderbilt Athletics

T he Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners is a must-read for any college football fan. Corys ability to go beyond the headlines and dive deep into the stories of some of the games biggest stars is perfect for the casual fan and CFB buffs.

Barrett Sallee, Bleacher Report

Copyright 2016 by Cory McCartney

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sports Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McCartney, Cory, author.

Title: The Heisman Trophy : the story of an American icon and its winners / Cory McCartney.

Description: New York : Skyhorse Publishing, [2016]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016035167| ISBN 9781613219331 (Hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781613219348 (Ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Football players--United States--Biography. | Heisman Trophy--History. | College sports--United States--History--20th century. | National Collegiate Athletic Association--History.

Classification: LCC GV939.A1 M43 2016 | DDC 796.332/63--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016035167

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photo credit AP Images

Print ISBN: 978-1-61321-933-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61321-934-8

Printed in the United States of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I T STARTED WITH superheroes. As a kid, I was obsessed with these exaggerated ideals of human existence. A man could fly, run faster than a locomotive, and those buildings? Hed leap over them in a single bound.

But later Superman was replaced by Bo Jacksonwho, ironically, had his own turn as a superhero alongside Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan in the Saturday morning cartoon ProStars . The exaggerated was no longer fictional, and Jackson ignited that flame, the ideal cast in bronze: a Heisman Trophy winner.

That torch was later carried by Barry Sanders and on and on, this stiff-armed statue becoming symbolic of that same infatuation with capes and tights. It was and is, as Heisman Trust president William J. Dockery would tell me, an icon to the youth of America.

Its recipients paths will always be dissected through a different lens than those of their contemporaries. Do they join the eight Heismen (Doak Walker, Paul Hornung, Roger Staubach, O. J. Simpson, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen, and Sanders) who would go on to Hall of Fame careers in the NFL? Are they considered part of an even longer lists of busts, a la Rashaan Salaam, Andre Ware, Gary Beban, and Gino Torretta? What makes the Heisman so powerful is that ultimately it doesnt matter. Whether they end up being considered as a legend or a flop, their receipt of the Heisman is likely to be the first line in any of their obituaries.

What follows in this book is the award in both brilliance and imperfection, as inspirational and divisive. In the annals of American sports, what other trophy can have that same impact?

None but the Heisman.

A special thank-you to my wife, Jama, and my sons, Jack and Cooper, for supporting me through a project Ive longed to produce.

Thanks to Tim Henning with the Heisman Trust, the sports information directors who proved so helpful along the wayE. J. Borghetti (Pitt), Jerry Emig (Ohio State), Keith Mann (Nebraska), Heath Nielsen (Baylor), and Tim Tessalone (USC)as well as Kent Stephens with the College Football Hall of Fame, Kelly Kline, Jay Berwanger biographer Brian Cooper, Gene Menez, who in our Sports Illustrated days opened the door for me to seize the reins of the Heisman coverage and to become a voterand, of course, my editor, Julie Ganz, for helping to make this all possible.

INTRODUCTION

An Icon Is Born

I VE ALWAYS BELIEVED that the Heisman [Trophy] is a team award, said Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner.

Because I dont care how great a player you areon offense if you dont have that line clicking for you, making holes for you to run through, or as a quarterback if you dont have that offensive line protecting you to allow you to throw that ball the way youre capable of throwing it, it just doesnt happen.

The Heisman is a 25-pound icon-maker, going, as the plaque below the ballcarrier states, TO THE OUTSTANDING COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER IN THE UNITED STATES . Every new winner becomes forever tied to the likes of Davey OBrien, Roger Staubach, and Barry Sanders. By its very definition, the Heisman is the bronze embodiment of this countrys golden boy spirit, not awarded to the team, but to a man.

Or, to modernize the connotation: The Man.

Football is a team game, and I dont care how you slice it, you have to have a team really clicking to win the Heisman Trophy, Griffin said.

Funny thing about that stance, though: as the awards unmatched winner believes, so too did the Heismans namesake, as well as the person who sculpted it. The concept of honoring the nations best player was ultimately the brainchild of Willard B. Prince.

In 1935, John Heismanthe first athletic director of New Yorks Downtown Athletic Club, who had, in a famed coaching career, helped to bring the forward pass, handoff, and center snap to the gamewas approached by Prince, the D. A. C. Journal s first publisher and editor, about a trophy to recognize the games best player.

How about it, John? Prince asked him. We have this award and we name it after you?

For Prince, the concept made sense. After an accomplished military career in which he was awarded the Silver Star and was the first American trained in aerial photography, he went into advertising. Prince saw the value not only in the debate that could come with such an award, but also what it could mean to the DAC, which was trying to separate itself from the citys other private clubs.

Heisman, though, was taken aback.