Heisman winners by year: Complete history of players to win college football's top award

The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious award in the now crowded space of college football awards, and each year in generates intense interest ahead of the awards ceremony each December.

In the 21st century, it has primarily been a quarterback award, with 20 of the 24 Heisman Trophy winners since 2000 being signal-callers, including last year's winner Jayden Daniels of LSU.

There have been 90 Heisman Trophy awards handed out since 1935, when Jay Berwanger of Chicago became the first winner.

Here's a look at the history of the Heisman Trophy winners.

List of Heisman Trophy winners

*Bush voluntarily vacated his Heisman Trophy in 2005 for NCAA sanctions

Has anyone won two Heismans?

There has only been one player to win the Heisman twice. That would be Ohio State running back Archie Griffin.

In 1974, Griffin won the Heisman after rushing 256 times for 1,695 yards, registering 12 touchdowns. He earned 483 first-place votes, with USC running back Anthony Davis earning 120 first-place votes.

The next year, Griffin was back at it. He ran 262 times for 1,450 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught 14 passes for 170 yards. It was a slightly closer vote, but still a runaway for Griffin as he had 454 first-place votes to California running back Chuck Muncie's 145.

Who is the most successful Heisman winner?

There have been plenty of successful Heisman Trophy winners in the NFL. Roger Staubach won four Super Bowls. Marcus Allen and O.J. Simpson each earned six Pro Bowl honors. There are several other Pro Bowl honorees and Super Bowl winners.

But if you're looking at the most successful, there's no question. It's Barry Sanders.

Sanders had a huge season for Oklahoma State in 1988, rushing 344 times for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns. Somehow, he would one-up that in the NFL.

In 10 years in the NFL, he took 3,062 carries for 15,269 rushing yards and 99 touchdowns. He has the fourth-most rushing yards and 10th-most rushing touchdowns of all time. He was a Pro Bowl running back each year of his career, and he was six times named to an All-Pro team. He had at least 1,000 rushing yards every season of his career.

In 1997, Sanders rushed for 2,053 yards on 335 carries with 11 touchdowns and caught 33 passes for 305 yards with three touchdowns en route to becoming MVP.

Sanders' decision to retire after the 1998 season was surprising by many, as he had a chance to break Walter Payton's career rushing yardage record and almost certainly would have set plenty of records had he continued past his age 30 season. But even with the early retirement, few would dispute that Sanders is at or near the top of the list of greatest running backs of all time.

Defensive players to win a Heisman?

There is one player who was primarily on defense to win the Heisman: Michigan corner Charles Woodson. In 1997, Woodson picked off seven passes and returned 33 punts for 283 yards and a touchdown.

Woodson also played a bit on offense, hauling in 11 passes for 231 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but his usage was almost exclusively on defense.

Back in 1961, Syracuse running back Ernie Davis — who rushed 150 times for 823 yards and 12 touchdowns — also played some linebacker and went on to win the Heisman.

However, since Davis was primarily a running back, the distinction of defensive player to win a Heisman remains just with Woodson.