Throwback Thursday: The Heisman Trophy

The 2016 Heisman Trophy will be awarded on Saturday. It will go to one of the following.

Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville
DeShaun Watson, QB, Clemson
Baker Mayfield, QB, Oklahoma
Jabrill Peppers, DB, Michigan
DeDe Westbrook, WR, Oklahoma

The annual award for the best football player in the nation usually goes to a quarterback or running back. Since 1988 the only two football players that won the Heisman didn't line up primarily in the offensive backfield. Both played at Michigan. That bodes well for Jabrill Peppers. Those two Wolverines were receiver Desmond Howard in 1991 and cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997. That last one especially bodes well for Peppers. It would be quite a surprise if the 2016 Heisman doesn't follow the quarterback/running back trend. Lamar Jackson is considered by most to be the favorite and he's followed by DeShaun Watson.

There were several games this season in which Lamar Jackson was clearly the best player on the field. That was even the case when he shared the field with DeShaun Watson. There were even times when it looked like Jackson was playing a whole other game. He simply and completely dominated. If he and Louisville hadn't staggered to the end of their regular season, Jackson would've won the Heisman in a landslide. He still might.

If I had a Heisman vote it'd go to Peppers. I just think that the best college football player is rarely the best quarterback/running back but they nearly always take home the award. Peppers was a great, difference-making player all season. He was just missing one or two of those jaw-dropping, season-defining plays that moved Howard and Woodson to the top of their respective Heisman classes.

While thinking and looking into the Heisman Trophy's past I came across these little nuggets from a December 13, 2013 article in the Los Angeles Times.

In the beginning

New York's Downtown Athletic Club, which presents the trophy, asked sculptor Frank Eliscu to design the trophy in 1934.

Role model

Eliscu used Ed Smith, a back on the 1934 New York University football team, as his model. The first design received approval from Jim Crowley, one of the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, who was then coaching Fordham. Eliscu watched a Fordham practice and made slight adjustments to the trophy based on watching the players in action.

Who, me?

Smith did not realize that the sculpture for which he posed was for the Heisman Trophy until 1982. He was given his own Heisman Trophy in 1985.

OK'd by the Irish

Final approval of the trophy design was given by Fighting Irish coach Elmer Layden and the entire Notre Dame football team on Nov. 16, 1935, after which it was sent to its final stage, bronze casting.

Heavy little dude

The trophy weighs 45 pounds, is 14 inches long, 13.5  inches in height and 6.5 inches in width.

Not as catchy

The trophy was originally called the DAC trophy and was first given to Jay Berwanger, a back for Chicago, on Dec. 9, 1935. It was renamed the Heisman trophy after John Heisman's death in 1936.

Named after....

Heisman, the first athletic director of the DAC, was a college coach from 1892 to 1927, is credited with inventing the center snap and was one of the main proponents of the legalization of the forward pass in 1906. He coached Georgia Tech to a 222-0 win over Cumberland in 1916.

Milestone

In 1961, Syracuse running back Ernie Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. He died of leukemia in 1963.

Two-timer

Ohio State running back Archie Griffin is the only player to receive the award twice, winning it in 1974 and 1975.

Prep schools

Two high schools have produced multiple Heisman trophy winners: Woodrow Wilson High in Dallas (Davey O'Brien in 1938 and Tim Brown in 1987) and Mater Dei in Santa Ana (John Huarte in 1964 and Matt Leinart in 2004).

Heisman U.'s

Ohio State and Notre Dame have the most Heisman trophies won, with seven each, USC had seven until Reggie Bush's Heisman win was vacated for NCAA rules violations.

Yes they Canton

Eight of the 74 Heisman winners went on to have Hall of Fame NFL careers: Doak Walker, Paul Hornung, Roger Staubach, O.J. Simpson, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders.

Fun stuff. 

One little thing missing from the history of the Heisman Trophy is a winner from the University of California. The closest that any Cal player got to taking home the award was in 1975. Running back Chuck Muncie finished second to Archie Griffin. The voters just had to give it to Griffin that second time.

Griffin's stats: 262 att, 1450 yards, 5.5 avg, 4 TDs
Muncie's stats: 228 att, 1460 yards, 6.4 avg, 13 TDs                                                                                

I guess that Ohio State's #4 ranking trumped Cal's #14. 

USC's Ricky Bell and Pitt's Tony Dorsett outgained both Griffin and Muncie. 1975 was a nice year for college running backs.