The Heisman Trophy
[Wikipedia]
The Heisman Memorial Trophy, also known simply as the Heisman, is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust following the regular season in December. The most recent winner is former Indiana Hoosiers quarterback, and first overall 2026 NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza.
The award was created by the Downtown Athletic Club to recognize "the most valuable college football player east of the Mississippi" and was first awarded to University of Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger (left). The award was given its name in 1936 after the death of the club's athletic director, John Heisman, and broadened to include players west of the Mississippi.
WINNERS
USC has won the most Heisman trophies with eight. Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame each have seven. Ohio State has had six different players win the award. The closest margin of votes was in 2009 between winner Mark Ingram II of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford. Ten Heisman Trophy winners are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Four winners have also been named Most Valuable Player in a Super Bow (right- Marcus Allen, Jim Plunkett, Roger Staubach, Desmond Howard, I think).
Some winners have gone on to play in other professional sports, including Bo Jackson in baseball and Charlie Ward in basketball. Pete Dawkins and Dick Kazmaier are the only winners not to pursue a professional sports career: Dawkins had a career with the United States Army, where he achieved the rank of Brigadier General, while Kazmaier attended Harvard Business School, founded a consulting company specializing in sports marketing, and chaired the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition in 1988–89.
TROPHY
The trophy, designed by sculptor Frank Eliscu, is modeled after Ed Smith, a leading player in 1934 for the now-defunct New York University football team. The trophy is made out of cast bronze, is 13.5 inches tall, 14 inches long, 16 inches in width and weighs 45 pounds. Eliscu had asked Smith, his former George Washington High School classmate, to pose for a commissioned sculpture of a football player. Smith did not realize until 1982 that the sculpture had become the Heisman Trophy. The Downtown Athletic Club presented Smith with a Heisman Trophy of his own in 1985.
From its inception in 1935, the statue was cast by Dieges & Clust in New York (and later Providence, Rhode Island) until 1980, when Dieges and Clust was sold to Herff Jones. For a time until at least 2008, the statues were cast by Roman Bronze Works in New York. Since 2005 the trophy has been made by MTM Recognition in Del City, Oklahoma.
SELECTION PROCESS
Originally only players east of the Mississippi were eligible. Since 1936, all football players playing in all divisions of college football nationwide are eligible for the award, though winners usually represent Division I Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
There are three categories of eligible voters for the award winner:
- Sports journalists: Heisman.com states that sports journalists are to be the determinants of the award since they are "informed, competent, and impartial." There are 870 media voters: 145 voters from each of six regions.
- Previous Heisman winners. In cases where an underclassman wins the award and remains in school to play, a prior winner may also be a current candidate. According to Heisman.com there are currently 57 prior winners eligible to vote and, thus, 57 potential votes. A prior winner is not required to vote and does not lose his voting privileges by not voting.
- Fans: Trophy sponsor Nissan USA holds an ESPN-conducted fan survey through its Heisman/college football advertising campaign website. This constitutes one Heisman vote.
Except for the one vote based on the fan voting, the balloting is based on positional voting. Each voter identifies three selections, ranking them in order. Each first-place selection is awarded three points, each second-place selection is awarded two points, and each third-place selection is awarded one point. Voters must make three selections and cannot duplicate a selection, or the ballot is invalid and none of the selections count. The accounting firm Deloitte is responsible for the tabulation of votes, which has moved almost exclusively to online voting since 2007.
POSITION
The Heisman has usually been awarded an offensive back: either a running back or a quarterback. Very few players have won the trophy playing a position other than those two. Four wide receivers have been named winner: Tim Brown (1987), Desmond Howard (1991), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Travis Hunter (2024). Two tight ends have won the trophy, Larry Kelley (1936) and Leon Hart (1949). Charles Woodson (1997) and Hunter are the only primarily defensive players to win the award, both doing so as defensive backs.
The highest finish ever for any individual who played exclusively on defense is second, by defensive end Hugh Green (left) of Pittsburgh in 1980, linebacker Manti Teʻo of Notre Dame in 2012, and by defensive end Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan in 2021. Although John Heisman himself was an interior lineman, no interior lineman on either side of the ball has ever won the award. Legendary linebacker Dick Butkus of Illinois placed sixth in 1963 and third in 1964 and could qualify as an interior lineman, as he played center on offense during his era when two-way players were still common.
Offensive guard Tom Brown of Minnesota and the offensive tackle John Hicks of Ohio State placed second in 1960 and 1973, respectively. Rich Glover, a defensive lineman from Nebraska, finished 3rd in the 1972 vote—which was won by his Cornhusker teammate Johnny Rodgers. Washington's DT Steve Emtman finished 4th in voting in 1991. Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska finished fourth in 2009 as a defensive tackle. Kurt Burris, a center for the Oklahoma team, was a runner-up for the award in 1954 and Orlando Pace finished fourth in 1996 as an offensive tackle for Ohio State.
CLASS AND AGE
For most of its history, most winners of the Heisman have been seniors. Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (right) was the first freshman to win the Heisman in 2012. In 2013, freshman Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston won the Heisman. Both were in their second year of college, having been redshirted (essentially, given an extra year to play) during their first year of attendance, meaning that no true freshman has yet won the award. No sophomore won the Heisman in its first 72 years, at which point there were three consecutive sophomore winners—Tim Tebow in 2007, followed by Sam Bradford and Mark Ingram II. Lamar Jackson, who also surpassed Winston's record as the youngest Heisman winner, became the fourth in 2016. Of the four sophomores to have won the award, only Bradford had been redshirted. The others all won during their second year of college attendance. Only a few juniors have won the award, starting with the eleventh winner in 1945, Doc Blanchard.
Five players have finished in the top three of the Heisman voting as freshmen or sophomores before later winning the award: Angelo Bertelli, Glenn Davis, Doc Blanchard, Doak Walker, and Herschel Walker. Eight players have finished in the top three as freshmen or sophomores but never won a Heisman: Clint Castleberry, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Rex Grossman, Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Peterson, Deshaun Watson, and Christian McCaffrey. Four players have specifically finished second in consecutive years: Glenn Davis (second in 1944 and 1945, winner in 1946), Charlie Justice (second in 1948 and 1949), Darren McFadden (second in 2006 and 2007), and Andrew Luck (second in 2010 and 2011).
The oldest and youngest Heisman winners ever both played for Atlantic Coast Conference schools. The oldest, Chris Weinke, was 28 years old when he won in 2000. He spent six years in minor league baseball before enrolling at Florida State. The youngest winner is 2016 recipient Lamar Jackson of Louisville at the age of 19 years, 338 days.
HISTORY
In 1935, the award was first presented by the Downtown Athletic Club (DAC) in New York City, a privately owned recreation facility located on the lower west side near the later World Trade Center site. It was first known simply as the DAC Trophy. The first winner, Jay Berwanger, was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles but declined to sign for them. He never played professional football for any team. In 1936, John Heisman died and the trophy was renamed in his honor. Larry Kelley, the second winner of the award, was the first man to win it as the "Heisman Trophy".
The first African American player to win the Heisman was Syracuse's Ernie Davis (left), who never played a snap in the NFL. He was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after winning the award and died in 1963. In 1966, former Florida Gators quarterback Steve Spurrier gave his Heisman trophy to university president J. Wayne Reitz, so that the award could be shared by Florida students and faculty. The gesture caused Florida's student government to raise funds to purchase a replacement trophy for Spurrier. Since then, the Downtown Athletic Club has issued two trophies to winners, one to the individual and a replica to his college.
Several Heisman trophies have been sold over the years. Although there is a ban on the sale of all trophies awarded since 1999, trophies awarded in previous years can be sold. O. J. Simpson's 1968 trophy was sold in February 1999 for $230,000 as part of the settlement of the civil trial following the acquittal in his murder case. Yale end Larry Kelley sold his 1936 Heisman in December 1999 for $328,110 to settle his estate and to provide a bequest for his family. Charles White's 1979 trophy first sold for $184,000 and then for nearly $300,000 in December 2006 to help pay back federal income taxes.
The current record price for a Heisman belongs to the trophy won by Minnesota halfback Bruce Smith in 1941, at $395,240. Paul Hornung sold his Heisman for $250,000 to endow scholarships for University of Notre Dame students from his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Eliscu's original plaster cast sold at Sotheby's for $228,000 in December 2005.
