Does the Heisman Trophy go to the best player in college football, or to the one who gets the most media attention? Michael Mitrook, a University of South Florida School of Mass Communications assistant professor, studied how the Heisman hype may influence the award voters. His headline: Hype wins the Heisman.
Sports fans have only so many hours in a day to devote to watching games or reading about them. Heisman voters are the same way. They have other sources they turn to. How these experts talk about and rate the Heisman candidates correlates with how the candidates end up in the voting. What is the likelihood of a player from a non-marquee program winning the Heisman? Not very likely.
We studied the buzz that is created for top players. We looked at traditional print media, broadcast, and online sources that make up the 24-hour sports-news cycle. We also researched how players become viable candidates. Do they have to be on a top-25 team?
Through research into media, public opinion, polling and other sources, we know that the Heisman candidates are chosen before the first down of the season. It’s kind of crazy. If you are not a front-runner at that point, it’s a lot more challenging to get into the Heisman picture. It tends to be more who falls out of the race more so than who works his way in. Schools now push candidates with elaborate PR campaigns; they know that the more attention they can bring, the longer the school is in the news, too.
Look at Johnny Manziel last season. The idea of a dynamic freshman quarterback who beat Alabama, leading a team that was new to the SEC from the Big 12 — all of that was huge. You kept hearing Manziel, Manziel, Manziel — look what he can do. That carries an awful lot of weight in the Heisman Trophy.
At the time of our study in 2004 the Heisman was seen as a career award. What has since changed is voter opinion of what makes a Heisman candidate and ultimately who is the one worthy of winning the trophy. I don’t think it has been tarnished by the hype or by going to underclassmen. As the 2013 season comes to close many candidates have fallen out of the running. Where will the media attention guide voters in the end? The FSU freshman QB Jameis Winston or the senior Alabama QB AJ McCarron?
What’s too bad is that it was never designed to go to the best offensive player, but the best player in college football. Now it tends to go to the best quarterback or running back. Someone can be a great player and still overlooked for the Heisman.
About the Author
