The Heisman Trophy is supposed to reward the best players who ever played college football. But everyone knows that's not often the case.
The fact the Heisman is handed out for a single season of excellence — and is decided by a popular vote that has honored mostly offensive players — has left out more than a few legends whose exceptional full body of work in the game was met with bad luck.
MORE: Heisman All-time winners
Here are the dozen men who were most deserving to join the club over the past 81 years. Maybe they need to be immortalized with their own statuesque poses.
1. Vince Young, QB, Texas (2003-05, runner-up in '05). Dual-threat quarterbacks are all the rage among voters now, but Young set the standard with his amazing final season at Texas. He threw for 3,036 yards and rushed for 1,050 more — the first major college passer to produce such a combination — to go with 38 total touchdowns. He carried the Longhorns all the way to the national championship and turned in the best title-game performance of all time to beat USC in the Rose Bowl. Young's season makes the case that the Heisman shouldn't be given until the very end of the season. In that case, he probably gets it (and keeps it) over Reggie Bush.
Vince Young (Getty Images)
2. Peyton Manning, QB, Tennessee (1994-97, runner-up in '97). Manning worked into a starting job as a well-pedigreed freshman, and played three full seasons through his senior year before leaving as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. He won 39 of the 45 games he started in college and got every other accolade for his longtime stellar play for the Volunteers. But because everyone harped on his team's inability to beat SEC rival Florida, he was robbed of the ultimate individual trophy. As the most worthy senior, he lost to the only mostly defensive player to ever win it, Michigan's Charles Woodson. At least Manning can ease his pain with two Super Bowl rings, numerous NFL passing records and a future bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play, on any level.
3. Deion Sanders, CB, Florida State (1985-88). OK, Woodson was a terrific two-way performer for the eventual national champion Wolverines in that '97 season to edge Manning. His electricity on special teams put him over the top. But that also means Sanders was criminally disrespected for what he did over four seasons for the Seminoles a decade earlier as both a corner and return man. Sanders didn't sniff an invitation to the Downtown Athletic Club, finishing No. 8 in Heisman voting in 1988. He was the best player in college then and is the best cover corner and on-ball speedster of all time. Call him Prime Time, call him Neon Deion, call him Totally Dissed.
4. Jim Brown, RB, Syracuse (1954-56). Unfortunately, college football was still in a dark place when Brown utterly destroyed everything in his path for the then-Orangemen. He ran over and through opponents on the gridiron as easily as if he were on a lacrosse field. Had Brown burst onto the scene only a few years later, he would have easily won the Heisman — his backfield successor at Syracuse, Ernie Davis, took home the Heisman in '61. The fact that Brown couldn't finish higher than fifth in the '56 voting is an absolute embarrassment. After his awesome, short time with the Browns in the NFL, Brown has the last laugh as the consensus best football player ever.
MORE: Sporting News 2016 All-Americans
5. Tommie Frazier, QB, Nebraska (1992-95, runner-up in '95). It's doubtful Frazier would have his big-time career as a run-heavy option quarterback go without a Heisman in the current era, given the more MVP-like nature the award has adopted of late. He was the dynamic leader and dominant force on a Cornhuskers team that won back-to-back national championships. He rolled through his senior season as the face of a juggernaut that will be hard to replicate in college football, down to the 62-24 dismantling of Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, in which Frazier was MVP.
Tommie Frazier (Getty Images)
6. Dick Butkus, LB, Illinois (1962-64). The Heisman could have been totally different for defensive players if Butkus had gotten it more than 50 years ago. Butkus made a strong case by finishing sixth in '63 and third in '64 before he went upstate to wreak havoc in the NFL — and make his name forever synonymous with "linebacker" for the Chicago Bears. He built his campaign as a hard-nosed heavy hitter in Champaign and was SN's college football Player of the Year in 1964. He's the real winner of every Butkus Award.
7. Anthony Carter, WR, Michigan (1979-82, third runner-up in '82). AC was a cool all-around playmaker and two-time All-American. He was a premier downfield threat and produced big numbers on a pro-style running team by averaging 19.1 yards per catch over his career. He was also a threat to go the distance every time he got the ball in his hands as a punt and kickoff returner. Desmond Howard won for the Wolverines less than a decade later ('91) with similar impact, only with more touchdown pop and a little more Heisman flair. Carter's style and substance should have been rewarded, too.
8. Hugh Green, DE, Pittsburgh (1977-80, runner-up in '80). Green stuffed the stat sheet as a dominant pass rusher for the Panthers, with 53 sacks helping to account for his incredible 105 tackles for loss over four ridiculous seasons. He terrorized quarterbacks and was also credited with 17 career takeaways. He was the SN Player of the Year in 1980 on the strength of 17 sacks and seven forced fumbles. His unprecedented high Heisman finish meant it was really hard to ignore his sustained play. He opened the door for Woodson to have the defensive breakthrough for the award.
MORE: College football award winners
9. John Elway, QB, Stanford (1979-82, runner-up in '82). The West Coast snub has hurt the Cardinal most of late: Andrew Luck, Toby Gerhart and Christian McCaffrey couldn't crack the Heisman case for Stanford either. Elway came very close, but was definitely hurt by the 5-6 team he carried as a senior. It might have come down to the Big Game disappointment against rival Cal, when "The Play" turned a seeming comeback victory into a weird loss. "This one wasn't for John," but he, like Manning, enjoyed other lasting honors throughout his glorious NFL career with the Broncos.
10. Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma (2004-06, runner-up in '04). Let's use this opportunity to remind you it's not AP for his initials, but rather AD for the nickname tied to his non-stop college production: All Day. Peterson was close to becoming the first freshman back to win the award on the strength of his initial Sooners splash, rushing for 1,925 yards and 15 touchdowns. Peterson got banged up and played a little less his sophomore and junior seasons, but wasn't any less of a player. Had he stayed as a senior, when he instead began rumbling through the NFL as a Viking, he would have gone down in Heisman history.
Adrian Peterson (Getty Images)
11. Marshall Faulk, RB, San Diego State (1991-93, runner-up in '92). Faulk was a god for the Aztecs, racking up pure gold as the future terrific all-purpose feature back he would become for the Colts and Rams in his Hall of Fame pro career. In three seasons in San Diego, he had 5,562 yards from scrimmage and 62 touchdowns. His floor was 1,429 rushing yards as a freshman. It's unfortunate that, despite everyone knowing he was the best college player during his time, his status as a WAC back caused him to fall shy of the Heisman.
12. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska (2005-'09, third runner-up in '09). Here's the last defensive player who had to be included. Suh did get invited to Heisman night as a senior finalist, and there was a real thought he would beat out Big 12 quarterback foe Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. Suh swept every defensive award and was named overall Player of the Year by The Associated Press, a first for a defender. His punishing play and intimidating presence made everyone take notice as he took over games as an elite interior pass rusher and run stuffer. He was hurt by the 'Huskers program not having the same luster it had in the Tom Osborne era.
13. Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State (2015-2017). Barkley makes the cut not just for recency bias, but the fact he is in conversation of being the best player not to be even invited to the Downtown Athletic Club as a finalist in either of his two outstanding seasons as a sophomore and junior. At least he should finish in the top 10 in voting — unlike last year.
DECOURCY: Why Barkley deserved the award in '17
Barkley left for the NFL as a the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, ending his chance to ever strike the pose. He was a game-changing runner in the tough Big Ten while he was a key figure in lifting the Nittany Lions program back to prominence. His rushing, receiving and returning explosivness is a throwback to many Heisman winners from the past.. Unfortunately, in the present numbers- and quarteback-dominated era, voters are more concerned with the MVP narrative than actual eye test of who is the best.
