50 Fun Facts About Heisman Trophy

The player on the Heisman Trophy is frozen mid-stride performing which classic ball-carrier move?

A stiff-arm, the straight-armed shove that holds off a tackler, is the statue's pose. The college player who modelled for it didn't learn his statue had become the Heisman until 1982.

Which Ohio State running back became the first two-time Heisman winner, in 1974 and 1975?

Archie Griffin also ran for at least 100 yards in an NCAA-record 31 consecutive games for the Buckeyes.

Which Auburn running back won the 1985 Heisman and later became a Major League Baseball All-Star?

Bo Jackson led off the 1989 MLB All-Star Game with a 448-foot home run and was named the game's MVP.

Which Michigan cornerback beat Peyton Manning to become the first mainly defensive Heisman winner?

Charles Woodson also returned punts and caught passes in 1997 as Michigan went unbeaten and shared the national title.

Joe Theismann began rhyming his name with Heisman, then lost to which Stanford quarterback in 1970?

Jim Plunkett, the first Latino winner, later came off the bench to lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.

Which USC running back forfeited his 2005 Heisman in 2010 and had it reinstated 14 years later?

Reggie Bush gave up the award during an NCAA case over gifts from agents, and the Heisman Trust returned it in 2024 after the rules on paying players changed.

Which Florida State quarterback won the 1993 Heisman, then skipped the NFL for an NBA career?

Charlie Ward was a first-round pick of the New York Knicks in 1994 and helped them reach the 1999 NBA Finals.

Which Texas A&M quarterback became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, in 2012?

Johnny Manziel, nicknamed Johnny Football, was also the first freshman to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a season.

Which Florida quarterback became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, in 2007?

Tim Tebow finished that regular season as the first FBS player to run and throw for at least 20 touchdowns in the same year.

Which Colorado star won the 2024 Heisman while starting at both cornerback and wide receiver?

Travis Hunter logged nearly 1,400 snaps on offense and defense that regular season, 382 more than any other player in the country.

Which Oklahoma State running back won the 1988 Heisman during a record 2,628-yard rushing season?

Barry Sanders had spent his first two college seasons as a backup, and he learned of his win in Tokyo, where his team was preparing to play Texas Tech.

Which Georgia running back won the 1982 Heisman, then joined the USFL's New Jersey Generals?

Herschel Walker ran for 1,812 yards in his first USFL season and was the league's MVP in its last.

Which Boston College quarterback won the 1984 Heisman a week after his Hail Mary beat Miami 47–45?

Doug Flutie's desperation throw was followed by a jump in applications to his college, a bump that became known as the Flutie effect.

Which Navy quarterback won the 1963 Heisman, served in Vietnam and won two Super Bowls with Dallas?

Roger Staubach volunteered for a one-year tour in South Vietnam, and he later became the first Heisman winner to be named Super Bowl MVP.

Which USC tailback won the 1968 Heisman and later had the NFL's first 2,000-yard rushing season?

O. J. Simpson won the vote by 1,750 points, a record margin that stood for 51 years.

Which LSU quarterback won the 2019 Heisman after transferring from a backup role at Ohio State?

Joe Burrow used his acceptance speech to describe hunger in his Ohio hometown, and more than $450,000 in donations then reached the local food bank.

Which Auburn quarterback won the 2010 Heisman after stops at Florida and a Texas junior college?

Cam Newton led Blinn College to the 2009 junior college national title, then won the BCS championship with the Tigers a year later.

Which Oklahoma quarterback, once a walk-on at Texas Tech, won the 2017 Heisman Trophy?

Baker Mayfield was the first winner since sports scholarships arrived in the 1950s to have started his college career as a walk-on.

Which Oklahoma quarterback won the 2018 Heisman after being a top-ten pick in baseball's draft?

Kyler Murray, taken ninth by the Oakland Athletics, went first in the 2019 NFL draft and became the first player chosen in the first round of both sports.

Which Michigan receiver struck the Heisman pose after a punt return touchdown against Ohio State?

Desmond Howard had planned a backflip but lost his nerve, and weeks later he won the 1991 award with 85 percent of the first-place votes.

Which University of Chicago back won the first Heisman, then became the NFL's first-ever draft pick?

Jay Berwanger never played a professional down after a salary dispute, and his Aunt Gussie used the trophy as a doorstop.

Which Syracuse halfback, the first Black Heisman winner, died of leukemia before playing a pro game?

Ernie Davis, nicknamed the Elmira Express, met President Kennedy while he was in New York to collect the trophy in 1961.

Which 1966 Heisman winner later coached Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel to the same trophy?

Steve Spurrier probably sealed his own award by waving off the regular kicker and booting a 40-yard field goal to beat Auburn 30–27.

John Heisman ran the sports program at which New York organization that first presented the trophy?

The Downtown Athletic Club first called its prize the DAC Trophy in 1935, then renamed it after its sports director died the next year.

John Heisman lobbied football's rule makers for three years to legalize which play in 1906?

The forward pass, he argued, would open up the game and curb dangerous mass plays such as the flying wedge.

John Heisman coached Georgia Tech to a record 222–0 rout of which Tennessee college in 1916?

Cumberland had already dropped football and sent a scrub team of law students and fraternity brothers because it was not allowed to cancel.

The Heisman Trophy, which stands about 13 inches tall and weighs 45 pounds, is cast in which metal?

Bronze gives the statue its heft, and the sculptor's original plaster model sold at auction for $228,000 in 2005.

Which Alabama wide receiver, nicknamed the Slim Reaper, won the 2020 Heisman over Trevor Lawrence?

DeVonta Smith later became the fifth player to win a Super Bowl, a college national title and the Heisman.

Which Alabama running back won the 2015 Heisman in a season of 2,219 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns?

Derrick Henry carried the ball 395 times in 15 games that season, and both of his totals set SEC records.

Which running back became Alabama's first Heisman winner in 2009, narrowly edging Toby Gerhart?

Mark Ingram was nine days short of his twentieth birthday, which made him the youngest winner up to that time.

Which Pittsburgh running back won the 1976 Heisman while leading his school to the national title?

Tony Dorsett won the Super Bowl as a Cowboys rookie the next season, and he later scored on a 99-yard run, an NFL record that can only be tied.

Which Texas running back, nicknamed the Tyler Rose, won the 1977 Heisman Trophy?

Earl Campbell went first in the 1978 NFL draft to the Houston Oilers and was the league's Offensive Player of the Year in each of his first three seasons.

Which Texas running back won the 1998 Heisman after breaking the NCAA career rushing record?

Ricky Williams so impressed the New Orleans Saints that they traded all their remaining draft picks to take him fifth overall.

Which Wisconsin running back won the 1999 Heisman in a four-year starting career that totalled 1,220 carries?

Ron Dayne, a state champion in the shot put and discus in high school, finished with the major-college record for career rushing yards.

Which Ohio State back won the 1995 Heisman after a school-record 314-yard game against Illinois?

Eddie George had lost two goal-line fumbles in a defeat to the same opponent as a freshman, then fumbled only six times in the next three years.

Which Oregon quarterback became the first Hawaii-born Heisman Trophy winner in 2014?

Marcus Mariota was lightly recruited out of his Honolulu high school, with scholarship offers from only Memphis and the Ducks.

Which LSU quarterback won the 2023 Heisman after three seasons at Arizona State?

Jayden Daniels led the FBS in total yards that year and set a single-season record for passer rating.

Which quarterback transferred from California to Indiana and won the 2025 Heisman Trophy?

Fernando Mendoza, whose four grandparents all emigrated from Cuba, led the Hoosiers to a national championship that season.

Which Notre Dame quarterback won the 1956 Heisman even though his team finished 2–8?

Paul Hornung, nicknamed the Golden Boy, went on to lead the NFL in scoring three years running with the Green Bay Packers.

Which Florida State quarterback won the 2000 Heisman at 28 after six years in minor league baseball?

Chris Weinke had signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1990 after only four days on campus, putting his college career on hold.

Which Army fullback, nicknamed Mr. Inside, became the first junior to win the Heisman, in 1945?

Doc Blanchard was also the first football player to win the Sullivan Award for amateur athletes, and he later retired from the Air Force as a colonel.

Which Iowa halfback won the 1939 Heisman and died four years later on a Navy training flight?

Nile Kinnick was honored by his university in 1972, when it renamed its football stadium for him.

Which LSU halfback won the 1959 Heisman weeks after his 89-yard Halloween punt return beat Ole Miss?

Billy Cannon later became a dentist, and in the 1980s he served two and a half years in prison over a counterfeiting scheme.

Larry Kelley and Clint Frank won back-to-back Heismans in 1936 and 1937 for which university?

Yale's Kelley was the first to receive the award under the Heisman name, and in 1999 he sold his trophy at auction for $328,110.

Which BYU quarterback won the 1990 Heisman in a season when he threw for more than 5,000 yards?

Ty Detmer threw 41 touchdowns in 12 regular-season games and finished the year holding 42 NCAA records.

Which Houston player won the 1989 Heisman, becoming the first Black quarterback to receive it?

Andre Ware once threw for 517 yards and six touchdowns in a single half, during a 95–21 rout of SMU that season.

John Cappelletti's 1973 Heisman speech honoring his ailing brother was retold in which TV movie?

Something for Joey aired in 1977, with Marc Singer playing the Penn State running back whose younger sibling had leukemia.

Which TCU quarterback won the 1938 Heisman, then quit the NFL after two seasons to join the FBI?

Davey O'Brien was the first quarterback to win the trophy, and the award for college football's top quarterback has carried his name since 1981.

John Heisman is credited with having his quarterbacks shout which word to start a play?

Hike was his idea while coaching at Auburn in the 1890s, and he also persuaded rule makers to split games into four quarters.

Which USC quarterback won the 2004 Heisman, then threw five touchdowns in a 55–19 Orange Bowl rout?

Matt Leinart led a team that sat at No. 1 in the polls all season, and he was the sixth USC player to win the trophy.