Tebow’s Plight Recalls a Tale of Heismans Past
GoneGator 
College Football, Florida Gators, Sports 
Florida Gators, Heisman, Oklahoma Sooners, Peyton Manning, Sam Bradford, SEC, Tennessee, Tim TebowThat Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford won the Heisman Trophy last night came as no surprise to me. The second consecutive sophomore to win the bronze prize had unbelievable numbers for the BCS Championship Game-bound Sooners, and is a very deserving winner.
But two things did surprise me in the final Heisman tally:
- Florida quarterback Tim Tebow garnered the most first-place votes (309 to Bradford’s 300).
- Tebow was not named on 17 percent of the 904 ballots that were tabulated.
Are you kidding me? There are 153 Heisman voters who did not think Tebow was one of the top three players in college football in 2008?
Well, let me share a little story with you. From 1993 through 2002, I was fortunate to be a Heisman Trophy elector as a sports journalist. And at the end of the 1997 season, I left a noteworthy name off my ballot — that of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning. He ended up finishing second to Michigan’s Charles Woodson.
How, you might ask, could I leave such a great quarterback off my ballot then, but criticize those who left Tebow off this year?
Very simple. Peyton Manning never beat Florida.
Manning set 42 NCAA, SEC or school records in four seasons in Knoxville. He led the Vols to the 1997 SEC title, an 11-1 regular season and a spot in the Orange Bowl de facto national championship game (which they lost to Nebraska). And Manning remains the all-time winningest SEC quarterback with a record of 39-5.
But four of those five career SEC losses came to the Gators, by a combined score of 161-86.
Had Manning beaten Florida in ’97, there is no doubt the Heisman (including my vote) would have been his. But the Gators handled Manning in a 33-20 victory over Tennessee. And with that, I decided I could not include Manning on my ballot regardless of how the rest of the season went.
I made a statement. And I took heat from fellow Southern college football writers when I revealed my intentions to those “Heisman watcher” media polls.
To this day, I have no regrets. But those who left Tebow off their ballots this year should.
Unlike Manning, Tebow has beaten all of Florida’s rivals. After the Gators’ lone loss this season, 31-30 to Ole Miss, Tebow vowed to work harder, play harder and push harder the rest of the way. The results: In the final nine games, Tebow led the nation in passing efficiency — completing 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,707 yards, 22 touchdowns and 2 interceptions — while rushing for 439 yards and 10 touchdowns. Florida went 9-0, beat No. 1 Alabama for the SEC title, and earned a spot opposite Bradford’s Sooners in the BCS title game.
What do you think? Was I crazy or justified to leave Manning off my ’97 ballot?
And can you justify anyone dissing Tebow in 2008?
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Do you remember what three you voted for in ’97? I assume you had Woodson first. Internet tubes tell me that Ryan Leaf was third, Randy Moss fourth, Ricky Williams fifth, and Curtis Enis (!) sixth.
Did you have two of those guys ahead of Peyton? Leaf played for a crappy PAC-10 team, Moss for a MAC school, and Williams for an underachieving Texas team. By the standards to which you’re holding Peyton, it’s possible that you were not hard enough on these others–did they all beat their rivals, and did their play make that difference?
I am certain I voted for Charles Woodson at the top, with Leaf and Moss after him. Moss had led Marshall to a national championship the previous season and had more ungodly numbers in ’97. The Leaf vote I definitely regret in hindsight, because I let his numbers blind me to the Pac-10 factor a bit too much.
Looking back, I could have slotted Manning in that third slot just as a nod to his career achievements, but I was (and am) firm in my belief that if you can’t beat your rival in four tries, you don’t deserve a vote. And if you do the research, you’ll see that by far I wasn’t the only one who left Manning off the ballot.
One other thing … I did tend to use one of my three choices each year to do something “different.” In 2001, I put Rexie at the top of my ballot (of course), but used my third slot for Dwight Freeney. Eric Crouch didn’t appear on my ballot — I thought he was very overrated, and I think I’ve been proven right. (I can’t remember who I voted second – that was a really weak Heisman year.)
OMG WHAT A SNAZZY BLOG! This has to be someone else’s doing as Techno Retard Chris could not possibly have come up with this internet magic.
Who the hell is Curtis Enis? And what an unfortunate name. I hope his middle initial is P. I am going to look this up now.
P.S. Fuck Peyton Manning.
I certainly agree that Peyton didn’t deserve your top vote, but I think you probably could’ve squeezed into the second or third slot, especially looking at who else you voted for. Playing in the toughest division in college football, he compiled the winningest record. Definitely worth a nod for those career numbers, despite never beating UF.
What an odd fact, though, that Tebow had the most first place votes but was also left off 17% of the ballots. That is ridiculous. I’m not saying he was a shoe in to win it, but certainly he’s done enough to be in the top three. I really think his gaudy numbers from last year hurt him. He didn’t put up another 20/20 stat, so some people were happy to use that as an excuse to ignore him. Personally, I think it might be a conspiracy from OSU/Archie Griffin fans.
Is it “shoe in” or “shoo in”? And where the hell does that come from, anyway? You know, I’ve never thought about it before.
It’s shoo-in. You know … shoo, fly, shoo!
Amy — your instincts are spot-on. Chris had nothing to do with creating this blog. I created it. I’m surprised Chris even figured out how to post to it.
It is indeed “shoo-in” and was originally a horse racing term. My god, I’m in Paris, France, and I don’t have anything better to do that read your blog and referee linguistic disputes? Sad, really.
Andy, that is sad indeed. Christmas in Paris and you’re thinking about me and Borglum. Actually, that’s more sick than sad. But thank you for finding the source of “shoo-in”!
[...] the main issue is how often Peyton was left entirely off ballots for the silliest of reasons. This article is from a former Gator beat writer who left Peyton off for not beating Florida, then included Ryan [...]
This article is probably the most hypocritical piece of trash I’ve ever read.
Are you seriously crying over Tebow being left off of ballots while admitting you did the same to Manning?
Since when is the Heisman reserved only for players who beat their rivals? In case you didn’t watch those UT/UF games, it was UT’s lack of a running game and poor defense that cost UT those games.
I could understand your argument more if Manning performed terribly against UF but he didn’t, even with no running game to rely on.
So-called “journalists” like you who vote based on homeristic bias are exactly why the “Hypesman” trophy is considered a popularity contest joke.
Keep us all posted on how many SuperBowls or ProBowls your precious Tebow goes to….
Raleigh, why so many excuses for Manning’s inability to defeat Florida? Wasn’t it only a year after he left the Vols that they beat the Gators and won a national title with a lot of the same cast? (Though I do think it’s a crime that Tee Martin has more victories over Florida than Manning.)
Call me a hypocrite — I’ll take that. In hindsight, I should have included Manning on my Heisman ballot, if just as a nod to a great college career. But my decision not to at the time is no cause for regret, even today. It is a widely regarded fact that had Manning beaten the Gators in ’97, he would have won the Heisman in a landslide — and he definitely would have had the top vote on my ballot.
I don’t think anyone is crying for Peyton. He’s done just fine for himself. And we all love watching his commercials.