List of Heisman Trophy winners

The Heisman Trophy, the highest individual award in American college football, has been awarded 72 times since its creation in 1935. The list of Heisman Trophy winners includes 70 individual winners and one two-time winner. The Heisman Trophy is given annually to the most outstanding college football player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and is awarded by the Downtown Athletic Club at an annual ceremony at the Nokia Theatre in New York City.

In 1935, the award, then known as the DAC Trophy, was created by New York City's Downtown Athletic Club to recognize the best college football player "east of the Mississippi River. In that inaugural year, the award went to the to Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago. Berwanger was later drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League but declined to sign for them. He never played professional football for any team, instead choosing to pursue a career in business. [ [http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/02/020627.berwanger.shtml Jay Berwanger, first winner of the Heisman Trophy, 1914-2002] Julia Morse, University of Chicago News Office. Chicago, Illinois. June 27, 2002. Accessed March 7, 2008.] In 1936, the club's athletic director, football pioneer John Heisman, died and the trophy was renamed in his honor. Larry Kelley, the second winner of the award, was the first person to win it as the "Heisman Trophy." [cite web
url=http://www.heisman.com/history/heisman-trophy.html
title=Heisman Trophy
publisher=heisman.com
accessdate=2008-01-06] In addition to the name change, the award also became a nationwide achievement. With the new name, players west of the Mississippi became eligible, though the first player from the western United States would not be selected until 1938. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-15962158.html Lighten up. (Heisman Trophy)] Mark Purdy, The Sporting News, encyclopedia.com. December 5, 1994. Accessed March 8, 2008.] Only one player, Ohio State's Archie Griffin, has won the award more than once. [ [http://www.heisman.com/winners/a-griffin74.html Archie Griffin] Heisman.com. Accessed March 8, 2008.]

Between 1936 and 2001, the award was given at an annual gala ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. The Downtown Athletic Club's facilities were damaged during the September 11, 2001 attacks. Due to financial difficulties stemming from the damage, the DAC declared bankruptcy in 2002, turning over its building to creditors. Following the club's bankruptcy and the loss of the original Downtown Athletic Club building, [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1583486&type=story New York landmark's closing leaves Heisman homeless] Wayne Drehs, ESPN.com. July 22, 2004. Accessed March 8, 2008.] the Yale Club of New York City assumed presenting honors in 2002 and 2003. [ [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/2002/06/26/2002-06-26_9-11_forces_heisman_to_move_.html 9-11 FORCES HEISMAN TO MOVE TO YALE CLUB] Christopher Hunt, New York Daily News. June 26, 2002. Accessed March 8, 2008.] The ceremony was moved to the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the 2002, 2003, and 2004 presentations, but since 2005, the event has been held at the Nokia Theatre Times Square. [cite web
url= http://www.nyc-architecture.com/LM/LM063.htm
title= Downtown Athletic Club
accessdate=2008-03-07
author=
date=
work=
publisher= nyc-architecture.com] The move to the Nokia Theatre allowed the Downtown Athletic Club to resume full control of the event—the most prominent example of which was the return of the official portraits of past winners— despite the loss of the original presentation hall. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=maisel_ivan&id=2255303 Bush runs away with Heisman Trophy] Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com. December 10, 2005. Accessed March 8, 2008.]

Balloting for the Heisman is selective. The fifty states of the U.S. are split into six regions, and six regional representatives are selected to appoint voters in their states (the regions include the Far West, the Mid Atlantic, Mid West, North East, South, and South West). [ [http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/6700005/ Expanded Heisman Trophy Voting Results] MSNBC.com. Accessed March 8, 2008.] Each region has 145 media votes, for a total of 870 votes. In addition, all previous Heisman winners may vote, and one final vote is counted through public balloting. The Heisman ballots contain a 3-2-1 point system, in which each ballot ranks the voter's top three players and awards them three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, and one point for a third-place vote. The points are tabulated, and the player with the highest total of points across all ballots wins the Heisman Trophy. [cite web
url= http://www.heisman.com/history/balloting.html
title= Heisman balloting history
accessdate=2008-03-07
author=
date=
work=
publisher= heisman.com]

Winners

References

External links

* [http://www.heisman.com The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award website]