The 2011 Heisman Trophy will be awarded Saturday night in New York City. The five candidates: Montee Ball of Wisconsin, Robert Griffin III of Baylor, Andrew Luck of Stanford, Tyrann Mathieu of LSU, and Trent Richardson of Alabama. Depending on who you talk to the winner could be Griffin, Luck or Richardson.
↵Good luck to all of them. I have a question, though. Why does the NCAA and the Heisman Committee keep torturing us here by handing out the award in New York City? Yes, college football is played in New York. Rarely THAT kind of college football, though.
↵Ernie Davis of Syracuse won the Heisman in 1961, and that is the last time a player from a New York school won the award. In fact, players from New York schools have rarely been in the conversation.
↵Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson came close in 1987, finishing second to Notre Dame's Tim Brown. Other than that, though, players for New York schools have gotten little attention from Heisman voters over the years.
↵Ray Rice (Rutgers) finished seventh in the 2006 balloting, Dwight Freeney (Syracuse) finished ninth in 2001, Donovan McNabb (Syracuse) placed fifth in 1998, Mike Mayweather (Army) was 10th in 1990, Larry Csonka (Syracuse) was fourth in 1967, Floyd Little (Syracuse) was fifth in 1965 and 1966.
↵So, enjoy your glimpse of Heisman Trophy caliber talent while it is in New York today. We don't see much of it on the field anymore.
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