| Awarded for | The outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work. |
|---|---|
| Presented by |
|
| History | |
| First award | 1935 to Jay Berwanger |
| Most recent | Jayden Daniels |
| Website | http://www.heisman.com/ |
The Heisman Trophy, one of the highest individual awards in American college football, has been awarded annually since its creation in 1935, and only Archie Griffin of the Ohio State Buckeyes won it two times, in 1974 and 1975. The trophy is given to the most outstanding college football player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and is awarded by the Heisman Trust, successors of the awards from the Downtown Athletic Club at an annual ceremony.
In 1935, the award, then known as the DAC Trophy, was created by New York City's Downtown Athletic Club to recognize the best college football player "east of the Mississippi River". [1] In that inaugural year, the award went to Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago. Berwanger was later drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League but declined to sign with them. He never played professional football for any team, instead choosing to pursue a career in business. [2] In 1936, the club's athletic director, football pioneer John Heisman, died and the trophy was renamed in his honor. Larry Kelley, the second winner of the award, was the first to win it as the "Heisman Trophy". [3] In addition to the name change, the award also became a nationwide achievement. With the new name, players west of the Mississippi became eligible; the first player from the western United States was selected in 1938, TCU quarterback Davey O'Brien. [1]
On June 10, 2010, following several years of investigation, the NCAA announced that USC running back Reggie Bush, the 2005 Heisman trophy winner, received gifts from agents while still in college. The university received major sanctions, [4] [5] and there were reports that the Heisman Trophy Trust would strip his award. [6] In September of that year, Bush voluntarily forfeited his title as the 2005 winner. The Heisman Trust decided to leave the award vacated with no new winner to be announced for the season. [7] Eventually, on April 24, 2024, the Heisman Trust announced the reinstatement of Bush's trophy due to 2021 rule changes regarding player compensation. [8]
A school has had a Heisman winner in back-to-back years six times (Yale 1936–37, Army 1945–46, Ohio State 1974–75, USC 2004–05, Oklahoma 2017–18 and Alabama 2020–21). Only one player, Ohio State's Archie Griffin, has won the award twice. [9] Oklahoma is the only school to have two players win the award in back-to-back years playing the same position (quarterbacks Baker Mayfield followed by Kyler Murray).
Between 1936 and 2001, the award was given at an annual gala ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. The Downtown Athletic Club's facilities were damaged during the September 11, 2001 attacks. Due to financial difficulties stemming from the damage, the DAC declared bankruptcy in 2002, turning over its building to creditors. Following the club's bankruptcy and the loss of the original Downtown Athletic Club building, [10] the Yale Club of New York City assumed presenting honors in 2002 and 2003. [11] [12] The ceremony was moved to the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the 2002, 2003, and 2004 presentations. Between 2005 and 2019, the event was held at PlayStation Theater in Times Square. [13] The move to the PlayStation Theater allowed the Downtown Athletic Club (and ultimately, the award's successor, The Heisman Trust) to resume full control of the event (the most prominent example of which was the return of the official portraits of past winners), despite the loss of the original presentation hall. [14] Shortly after the 2019 ceremony was held, the PlayStation Theater was permanently closed; as a result, the Heisman Trust began searching for a new location to conduct the trophy presentation. The 2020 ceremony would ultimately be held at the studios of ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ceremony being held on January 5, 2021. [15]
In terms of balloting, the fifty states of the U.S. are split into six regions (Far West, Mid Atlantic, Mid West, North East, South, South West), and six regional representatives are selected to appoint voters in their states. [16] Each region has 145 media votes, for a total of 870 votes. In addition, all previous Heisman winners may vote, and one final vote is counted through public balloting. The Heisman ballots contain a 3–2–1 point system, in which each ballot ranks the voter's top three players and awards them three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, and one point for a third-place vote. The points are tabulated, and the player with the highest total of points across all ballots wins the Heisman Trophy. [17]
| * | First overall draft pick in the NFL Draft | ||||
| † | Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame | ||||
| ‡ | First overall draft pick and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame | ||||
This is a list of the colleges and universities who have had a player win a Heisman trophy. USC has the most trophies with eight. Ohio State has the distinction of the only two-time winner, Archie Griffin. In total, players from 40 schools have won a Heisman Trophy, while 19 schools have more than one trophy.
This is a list of the positions of players who have won a Heisman Trophy.
| Position | Trophies |
|---|---|
| CB | 1 |
| End | 2 |
| FB | 2 |
| HB | 17 |
| HB/LP/FB | 1 |
| HB/P | 1 |
| HB/QB | 2 |
| LB | 1 |
| QB | 36 |
| QB/WR | 1 |
| RB | 21 |
| WR | 2 |
| WR/P | 1 |
| WR/PR | 1 |
In 2009, the National Football Foundation (NFF) retroactively selected Heisman Trophy winners for the years between 1889 and 1934. The selections were made by sportswriter and NFF historian Dan Jenkins and published by the NFF. [20]
John Jacob "Jay" Berwanger was an American college football player and referee. In 1935, Berwanger was the first recipient of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, renamed the Heisman Trophy the following year. At its inception, the award was given to "the most valuable player east of the Mississippi." In 1936, Berwanger became the first player drafted into the National Football League in its inaugural 1936 NFL Draft, although he did not play professionally due to a salary dispute.
The Heisman Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work. It is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust in early December before the postseason bowl games.
Archie Mason Griffin is an American former football running back who played for seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, he is considered one of the greatest college football players of all time. Griffin won four Big Ten Conference titles with the Buckeyes and was the first player ever to start in four Rose Bowls. He also played professionally for the Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League (USFL).
Michael Lockett Garrett is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL) for eight seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers. He played college football for the USC Trojans, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1965.
Matthew Stephen Leinart is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans, where he won the Heisman Trophy and led his team to an undefeated season as a junior. Selected tenth overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2006 NFL Draft, Leinart primarily served as Kurt Warner's backup for four seasons. He spent his final three seasons in a backup role for the Houston Texans and the Oakland Raiders. Leinart was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
Reginald Alfred Bush III. is an American former football running back who was an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football for the USC Trojans, earning consensus All-American honors twice and winning the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding player in the nation. Bush is widely regarded as one of the greatest college football players of all-time. He was selected by the New Orleans Saints second overall in the 2006 NFL Draft. While with the Saints, Bush was named an All-Pro punt returner in 2008 and won Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 over the Indianapolis Colts. He also played for the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers before retiring from professional football in 2017.
Gary Joseph Beban is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons with the Washington Redskins. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, where he won both the Maxwell Award and the Heisman Trophy in 1967. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Big Ten Conference.
The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the only two unbeaten teams of the season: the defending Rose Bowl champion and reigning Big 12 Conference champion Texas Longhorns played Pacific-10 Conference titleholders and two-time defending AP national champions, the USC Trojans. Texas would defeat USC 41–38 to capture its fourth football championship in program history and first consensus national title since 1969. The game was a back-and-forth contest; Texas's victory was not secured until the game's final nineteen seconds. Vince Young, the Texas quarterback, and Michael Huff, a Texas safety, were named the offensive and defensive Rose Bowl Players of the Game. ESPN named Young's fourth-down, game-winning touchdown run the fifth-highest rated play in college football history. The game is the highest-rated BCS game in TV history with 21.7% of households watching it, and is often considered the greatest Rose Bowl game of all time, as well as the greatest college football game ever played.
The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academic excellence in America's young people." It was founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, longtime Army Black Knights football coach Earl Blaik and journalist Grantland Rice.
The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 1, 2005 and ended on December 3, 2005. The postseason concluded on January 4, 2006 with the Rose Bowl, which served as the season's BCS National Championship Game.
John David Booty is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft.
The 2005 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, winning the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10), and playing for the NCAA Division I-A national championship. The team was coached by Pete Carroll, led on offense by quarterback and 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Jason White is an American former college football quarterback who played for the Oklahoma Sooners. He was named a unanimous All-American and won the Heisman Trophy in 2003.
The 2005 Orange Bowl was the BCS National Championship Game of the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season and was played on January 4, 2005, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The game matched the USC Trojans against the Oklahoma Sooners. Both teams entered with undefeated, 12–0 records. Despite only being a 1-point favorite, USC defeated Oklahoma by a score of 55–19, led by quarterback Matt Leinart. ESPN named Leinart's performance as one of the top-10 performances in the first ten years of the BCS system.
The 2004 USC Trojans football team represented the University of Southern California in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 2004 Trojans football team won the 2004 BCS National Championship by winning the 2005 Orange Bowl, that year's BCS National Championship Game. The team also won the AP title for the second year in a row. It was the Trojans' first unanimous national championship since 1972, and the second time a team had gone wire-to-wire, with the Trojans holding the number 1 spot in the polls all season. The team was coached by Pete Carroll in his fourth year with the Trojans, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The team is widely considered one of the greatest college football teams of all time.
The Heisman curse is a two-part assertion of a negative future for the winner of the Heisman Trophy in American football. The "curse" supposes that any college football player who wins the Heisman plays on a team that will likely lose its subsequent bowl game. The trend of post-award failure has garnered the attention of the mainstream media.
In the University of Southern California athletics scandal, the University of Southern California (USC) was investigated and punished for NCAA rules violations in the Trojan football, men's basketball and women's tennis programs.
The 1935 Chicago Maroons football team was an American football team that represented the University of Chicago in the Big Ten Conference during the 1935 college football season. In their third season under head coach Clark Shaughnessy, the Maroons compiled a 4–4 record, finished in sixth place in the Big Ten, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 110 to 102.
Caleb Sequan Williams is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and USC Trojans and was selected first overall by the Bears in the 2024 NFL draft. Williams won the Heisman Trophy and several other awards with USC in 2022 after throwing for over 4,500 yards with 52 total touchdowns, the latter being a single-season school record.
