Looking at this piece by Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta-Journal, it occurred to me that many people are under the impression that a 'Heisman moment' is a necessary thing for a candidate who wants to take home the trophy.Barnhart says the following about Troy Smith:
Take a good look at the acrobatic play he made against Penn State last week. You're going to be seeing it for the rest of the season and so will the 900-plus Heisman Trophy voters. Remember that stats are important, but making the highlight package on SportsCenter on Saturday night is even more important if you want to win the Heisman.
He's right to some extent, but the notion that a player needs such a moment in order to win is just not true.
Can anyone name Matt Leinart's Heisman moment in 2004? How about Jason White's in 2003? What highlight play of Chris Weinke's season was being re-played over and over on ESPN in 2000?
The answer, of course, is that none of these players had a 'Heisman moment.' But they all put up good stats on a national title-contending traditional power and that's what mattered in the end.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-28-2006 @ 6:12PM
JJK said...
Finally someone who is thinking! Although Smith is a very good quarterback, he is not in the same league with Brady Quinn (or any of the others mentioned). He happens to be playing on a very good team, and I venture to say that there are about 6 other quarterbacks now playing who would do a much better job than Smith if they too were quarterbacking Ohio State.
The so called "Heisman Moment" was in reality a "Hail Mary" pass thrown with the defender out of position. One more step and it's just another incomplete pass. It is shown over and over simply because there is nothing else to show from that game to hype Smith's trophy hopes. I watched the game twice, and he played very poorly. Compare Quinn's performance against Penn State (he had ND ahead 41-3 before some meaningless scores) against Smith's poor performance. Same opponent, different result quarterbackwise. Quin is playing with a much poorer team, and is under constant pressure to do it all himself (the defense gave up 84 points in the last 2 games alone, and still ND is 3-1). All he did last week was lead his team back from certain defeat, throwing 5 TD passes in the wind and rain against the 4th underfeated team he has faced this year. Could Smith do that? Has he thrown for 5 TDs in many games? How about 6TDs in a game? Looks like 3-1 Georgia Tech is a lot better than anyone thought, doesn't it? You are so right with this Heisman Moment crap. Quinn does not need a Heisman moment. He has Heisman games and Heisman years. People forget that he broke almost every quarterback record at ND last year, and so far this year he is ahead of last year in TDs thrown (against 4 undefeated teams). And those are the records set by some very serious ND quarterbacks (many of whom won the Heisman and many of whom had great NFL careers)---Hornung, Huarte, Montana, Bertelli, Lujack, Theisman, Gipp, etc. And when he is finished, not one record of these great quarterbacks will remain, they will all belong to Brady Quinn. Remember the Heisman Trophy is supposed to go to the best player in college, not the one with the best team, or the one with the best record. The old time sports reporters recognized this when they gave the trophy to Hornung who quarterbacked a 2-8 team. I hope for the integrity of the trophy everyone will get back to that basic concept. Is there one NFL scout who would take Smith over Quinn? Not a chance!!!!!!!!!
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10-03-2006 @ 1:50AM
Anonym said...
Another immature comment from an Irish fan!!
Both Troy and Brady have a bad game in the pocket. However, there is a huge difference between those performances. Brady was not able to keep the drive alive in most of their possssions and importantly turned the ball away when it mattered the most. Troy did make a few mistakes in the game against PSU. However, he once again proved that he can make the clutch plays when it mattered most. Another example would be his TD pass to Gonzalez in last year's game against Michigan. This ability is what differentiates Troy from other quarternbacks and the television and other media are just highlighting his strength to the viewers. Brady is to win a game against a good opponent. He has failed consistently when playing against good defenses. It is going to hurt him a lot.
Moreever, Heisman trophy has nothing to do with his ability to shine in the NFL. Latest example is Jason White!!
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10-04-2006 @ 8:42PM
Hastings said...
Anyone who thinks Brady Quinn and Troy Smith are playing on the same caliber team are either blind or know nothing about football.I agree that almost any good quarterback would look very good quarterbacking Ohio State, but only a great quarterback would look good quarterbacking Notre Dame. You can't compare the two--Brady Quinn is far superior to Troy Smith. Smith is not doing anything that many other quarterbacks have done before, while Quinn is rewriting the record books at Notre Dame. Smith is simply a good quarterback on a great team, and I mean a GREAT team!!
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