Heisman Trophy
|
|
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award, considered the most prestigious award in American college football, is given annually to the top player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The award was presented by the Downtown Athletic Club in Manhattan, New York, a privately owned recreation facility near the site of the former World Trade Center, until the Club was forced to close its doors in 2002 due to financial troubles resulting in large part from the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York. The award ceremony is now hosted by the Yale Club in Manhattan, and is presented independently from the annual College Football Awards (where all other related awards are presented). The trophy is named after the college coach and DAC Director of Athletics John W. Heisman and was first presented in 1935.
Statistics
Only one player, Archie Griffin, has won two Heismans; he did so in 1974 and 1975.
Only two high schools have graduated multiple alumni who would eventually win the Heisman Trophy. Mater Dei High School produced John Huarte (Notre Dame) and Matt Leinart (USC) most recently but Dallas Woodrow Wilson produced the first combo with Davey O'Brien (TCU) and Tim Brown (Notre Dame).
Charles Woodson is the only primarily defensive player to win the award, doing so in 1997.
In 2004, Helix High School became the first school to have two ex-pupils (Alex Smith and Reggie Bush) as simultaneous top five finalists.
As of 2004, the teams with the most Heismans are Notre Dame (with 7), Ohio State (6), USC (6), and Oklahoma (4). Army, Nebraska, and Michigan have 3 Heisman winners each. A number of other teams have won the trophy twice or less.
External links
- The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award website (http://www.heisman.com)
- The Heisman Projection: Predicting the winner through "exit polls" of Heisman voters (http://www.heismanprojection.com)