In a game that spans many eras, any task like this is exceedingly difficult and fraught with contradiction. With all the nostalgia built into the Heisman Trophy and the game of college football, we're buying into it with a less clinical, more emotional effort at ranking players. There's a bias towards the modern, towards a player being associated with the trophy and towards those that most captured peoples' imaginations.
I talked today to Desmond Howard, who won the 1991 Heisman Trophy at Michigan, about 2008 Heisman winner Sam Bradford and about the coach at Howard's alma mater, Rich Rodriguez:
"I thought that Sam was the most deserving of all the college athletes this past season," Howard said. "It rewards you for your body of work and Sam, even in the one loss he had to Texas, still played an outstanding game. So he had an outstanding season throughout. So I thought it was well deserved. He deserved the trophy."
As for the Michigan program, Howard said, "The state of the program right now seems to be at its lowest point. It's been the worst football season in the history of the University of Michigan. So it can only go up."
When I asked what kind of team Michigan will have in 2009, Howard said, "I do not know."
If you didn't know already, more than a few Michigan Wolverine fans are upset with how this football season has turned out. Not only is the nation's longest bowl streak over, but the Wolverines are enduring their first eight-loss season ever. Number nine looks to be on the horizon, as Rich Rodriguez's squad heads to Columbus for the annual Big Ten Championship Game Ohio State-Michigan game.
It isn't just fans who are upset with the team's non-performance this season. Even some former Wolverine players are getting into the act. On Monday, Desmond Howard, of all people, gave an interview to a Columbus radio station on Monday and left no doubt about his opinion of the team's performance this season:
"I made a comment (Sunday) on our show that it's not like they were trying to learn a spread offense (as much as) like they were trying to learn how to play football in some of those games, they looked so bad. This isn't Michigan, this is like Michigan Tech."
For the benefit of the unenlightened, yes, there's really a Michigan Tech. It's located in the Upper Peninsula, so far up it's actually closer to Minneapolis than to Detroit. Howard's comparsion is unfair, though.
Prop Bets for the College Football Junkie is a weekly post that cares not for your silly point spreads. If you have the money and the gumption, we'll lay down a weekly gauntlet of propositions that'll take you from the penthouse to the outhouse faster than you can guess the number of times Lee Corso will say "not so fast my friend." As always, this is for entertainment purposes only.
- We kid because we care, and if Notre Dame is able to win this weekend against San Diego State you can expect Lou Holtz to remind the world that he predicted the Irish to win 11 games this year. We put the over/under for this at five, provided Notre Dame wins. Also, we put the over/under at three for the number of times Mark May will remind Holtz that it was San Diego State. We would say five, but we're sure at least a couple of those times there will be a producer on the set with a look on his face that says "just let him enjoy this moment."
- The punt block that sealed East Carolina's victory over Virginia Tech was poetic justice for all the times the Hokies have won games like that. We're sure it will be replayed multiple times during the game with West Virginia this weekend. But that's now what we're looking at. No, the over/under for this one will be the number of Tech fans actually cheering for West Virginia, and we put that number at five. If you don't know, the catch is that Tech and West Virginia were hated rivals in the Big East days. Being a West Virginia fan, I find it comforting that any Hokie would stoop so low as to cheer for the Mountaineers. Even funnier is that I know of at least one already. Unfortunately, I had to delete his comments on this because he had some derogatory phrases about the Pirates in his comments. I guess it must be my picture.
[Herbstreit's report] was wrong on so many levels. As a former player, unless I spoke to that coach and he told me it was cool, I would never have done that because he was still coaching a team that's about to play in a (SEC) championship game. ... His team, the first thing they saw when they woke up was that report. It was not fair to him and not fair to the players.
He's got a point given that he's on Michigan's search committee and literally spends every Saturday with Herbstreit. All it would have taken was a simple call to a well-placed colleague to add another layer of proof.
I'll be curious to see if there's any fallout from this one. Herbstreit really is the face of Game Day at this point and is clearly being groomed to take over as ABC's lead commentator for college football, if he isn't already. He's the golden boy and Howard just took him to task.
The World Wide Leader in Sports is known to have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to dissent. Desmond is a good, but by no means irreplaceable commentator. It will be interesting to see if Desmond's comments do more than just kick a dead horse.
FanHouse is counting down the 10 best, 10 worst, and 10 weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.
There ought to be a unit to measure cockiness in athletes. There should be some means of comparing one athlete's self-confidence with another's. Yes, there should be such a unit, and if there ever is, it should be called the Howard. One Howard would be equal to the amount of cockiness displayed in the photo above, the infamous moment towards the end of the 1991 Ohio State-Michigan game when Desmond Howard struck the Heisman pose, knowing--knowing--that he had just locked up the award.
I remember seeing this moment on live TV. At the instant Howard struck his pose I had never admired nor loathed an athlete so much. He was arrogant, and he was right. Howard didn't just win the 1991 Heisman, he claimed it. Howard scored 138 points for Michigan that season, becoming the first receiver ever to lead the conference in scoring.
It wasn't just what Desmond Howard did that earned him the Heisman, though. It was how he did it. He caught 61 passes for 950 yards that season. That's more than respectable, but those aren't dizzying numbers. Last year Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree caught 134 passes for 1,962 yards. Crabtree even outdid Howard in touchdown receptions, 22 to 19. But did you catch something in those numbers?
There's quite a lovefest going on in the world of college football surrounding Ron Zook and the Fighting Illini. The Illini are ranked for the first time in six years, and are tied atop the Big Ten standings with Ohio State. There's legitimate talk of a conference title and trip to the Rose Bowl going on in Champaign. Even running back Rashard Mendenhall is having his name mentioned when it comes to talk of the Heisman.
It seems that Illinois is on the verge of becoming an actual football program. The only thing that could make it official would be if the Gameday crew came to town. Wait a second, what's that you said? Oh, no way!
While Zook, his staff and his players try to stay focused on this week's opponent, some university officials have no choice but to look ahead to the following game, Oct. 20 at home against Michigan.
ESPN already has contacted Illinois about the possibility of bringing its popular GameDay show to Champaign. And while nothing is certain, a visit from hosts Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard would bring a rock-show atmosphere to Memorial Stadium.
First Erin Andrews comes to town for the Wisconsin game, and now Lee Corso could be coming!? Oh what a joyous time to be alive and living in Champaign, Illinois!
This would be huge for Illinois as a program. Ron Zook and his staff are already fantastic recruiters, but now the school is going to start getting national exposure, which will only make Zook's job easier. If he can convince players like Arrelious Benn to pass up big time programs to come to a school that only won two games the previous season, just imagine what he can do with a winning program.
Desmond Howard is not just another Heisman winner. He may be the most iconic Heisman guy of them all, what with Keith Jackson going "hellloooooo Heisman" as he busted the statue's pose out after his game-changing punt return touchdown against Ohio State. That's why EA put him on the cover and not, say, Rashaan Salaam when they wanted to pump up their new "Race for the Heisman" mode a couple years ago. He's also been on TV a lot recently.
With the recent passing of Doc "Mr. Inside" Blanchard, FanHouse takes a stab at naming the five greatest living Heisman Trophy winners
If you didn't know already, more than a few Michigan Wolverine fans are upset with how this football season has turned out. Not only is the nation's longest bowl streak over, but the Wolverines are enduring their first eight-loss season ever. Number nine looks to be on the horizon, as 
... as the knives are sharpened in Bristol ...
There's quite a lovefest going on in the world of college football surrounding 
