Heisman Milestones and Firsts Through the Years [1]

Manziel's victory adds to the history of college football's most legendary award

Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy on Friday, adding another milestone to one of the most storied awards in sports.

From the first African-American to win the award, to the first sophomore, to the first West Coast winner, the milestones achieved during the Heisman’s roll call of 78 winners have reshaped the award.

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What if the Heisman was awarded after the National Championship? [19]

How would the BCS title game have impacted the Heisman Trophy voting?

The Heisman Trophy is an inherently flawed award. That’s the bad news.

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College Football's Best Heisman Campaigns [27]

Submitted by Steven Lassan on Thu, 2012-12-06 05:14

College Football [2]
News [20]
ACC [3]
Big 12 [4]
Big East [21]
Big Ten [5]
Independents [28]
Pac 12 [22]
SEC [7]
Texas A&M Aggies [17]

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Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

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Like politicians, college football athletes and their universities also campaign to grab votes. Since the Heisman is awarded this Saturday, we thought we'd look back as some of our favorite campaigns to take home the coveted trophy.

Combine one of the best video games (Tecmo Bowl) with a dynamic quarterback like Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel and you have an instant hit. As a freshman, Manziel set the SEC record for total offense in a season and led the Aggies to a 10-2 record in 2012.
Collin Klein, QB, Kansas State

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Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein was one of college football's toughest players during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Klein was a workhorse for the Wildcats' offense, as he recorded back-to-back years of at least 3,000 yards of total offense. To help promote Klein for the Heisman Trophy, Kansas State mailed band-aid tins to the media. The band-aid tins were a play on Klein's bumps and bruises throughout his career and it was no surprise to see No. 7 with a few bandages on his elbows during the game.
Ty Detmer, QB, BYU

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One of the best Heisman promotions comes from BYU in 1990. The school promoted quarterback Ty Detmer as a Heisman candidate in 1990 by giving out a "Heisman Ty" to fans at the BYU-Miami contest in early September. Detmer edged Notre Dame's Rocket Ismail for the Heisman in 1990 and finished third in 1991. (Photo courtesy of BYU Athletics [29])
Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri

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After finishing fourth in the 2007 Heisman voting, Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel was considered one of the frontrunners to win it in 2008. A viewfinder was used to promote Daniel, but he failed to finish in the top 10 of Heisman voting.
Dan Persa, QB, Northwestern

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A slow recovery from a torn Achilles ended any hopes Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa had of winning the Heisman Trophy in 2011. Persa did not play in the season's first three games and finished with 2,376 passing yards and 17 touchdowns.
Byron Leftwich, QB, Marshall

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Marshall was one of college football's most successful teams in the 1990s and 2000s, as the school had three Heisman contenders and recorded 11 double-digit win seasons between 1991 and 2002. The school promoted quarterback Byron Leftwich with a bobblehead, and the Washington, D.C. natived finished sixth in voting in 2002.
Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers

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Ray Rice compiled an impressive career at Rutgers, recording 1,000 yards in each of his three seasons, while leading the Scarlet Knights to three consecutive bowl appearances. To help promote Rice's Heisman campaign, Rutgers started a "See Ray Run" campaign, mailing binoculars to voters across the nation. Rice finished seventh in Heisman voting in 2006. (Photo courtesy of Rutgers Athletics [30])
Robert Griffin, QB, Baylor

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Baylor's trading card promotion of quarterback Robert Griffin was a success. The school mailed six cards to media across the country, including one after he won the Heisman. Griffin edged Stanford Andrew Luck by 280 points to claim the 2011 Heisman Trophy.
DeAngelo Williams, RB, Memphis

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Playing outside of a BCS conference makes it difficult to win the Heisman, but Memphis certainly did all it could to promote DeAngelo Williams with a diecast race car in 2005. Williams finished seventh in Heisman voting in 2005.
Graham Harrell, QB/Michael Crabtree, WR, TTU

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Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree was a popular connection at Texas Tech for two seasons, and the school created an interesting campaign playing off the 2008 presidential election. Texas Tech pitched the two players as Heisman candidates with a website (PassOrCatch2008.com), and both finished in the top five of voting that season.
Joe Theismann, QB, Notre Dame

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Most of the award campaigns in this slideshow feature promotional materials, but Notre Dame had an effective and cheap campaign to promote Joe Theismann in 1970. Instead of mailing out anything to the media, Notre Dame's sports information director at the time (Roger Valdiserri) came up with the idea of changing the pronunciation of Theismann to rhyme with Heisman. Theismann finished second to Stanford's Jim Plunkett in 1970.
Joey Harrington, QB, Oregon

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To help combat East Coast bias, Oregon unveiled this large billboard of quarterback Joey Harrington in Times Square. Harrington led the Ducks to a Fiesta Bowl appearance in his senior year, while finishing fourth in Heisman voting.
Jason Gesser, QB, Washington State

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Gesser was one of the most productive quarterbacks in Washington State history and helped to lead the Cougars to 20 wins from 2001-02. To help promote Gesser's Heisman campaign, the school unveiled a 25-foot banner on a grain elevator in Dusty, Wash. Gesser finished seventh in the voting for the 2002 season.
Montee Ball, RB, Wisconsin

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Wisconsin's Montee Ball finished fourth in Heisman voting for 2011 and was one of the frontrunners to win in 2012. However, the senior got off to a slow start and never managed to work his way back into serious Heisman contention. To promote the senior running back, the school released a short video detailing some of Ball's accomplishments and hyping his return for 2012.
Dan LeFevour, QB, C. Michigan

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Central Michigan is less than 200 miles outside of Detroit, so it is no surprise the Chippewas have a large following in the city. The school promoted quarterback Dan LeFevour in 2008 by placing a large billboard outside of Comerica Park. Although LeFevour had an outstanding career, he did not earn any Heisman consideration.
Quinton Patton, WR, Louisiana Tech

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OK, so this one isn't officially for the Heisman, but we love it anyway. Louisiana Tech's Quinton Patton had an impressive debut in 2011, catching 74 passes for 1,135 yards and 10 touchdowns. The senior is a candidate for the 2012 Biletnikoff Award (nation's best receiver), and the Bulldogs unveiled a promotional campaign featuring the receiver in a similar pose as actor George C. Scott when he played General George S. Patton.
Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin

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Wisconsin was one of the first schools to effectively use social media to promote a candidate for the Heisman. In addition to earning kudos for a strong social media campaign, the school deserves credit for the "RussellMania" handle. In his only year with the Badgers, Russell Wilson threw for 33 touchdowns and finished ninth in the Heisman race.
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Other Slideshows You Might Like

10 Greatest Clemson Tigers (since 1967) [31]

5 Greatest Moments in Clemson Tigers Football History [32]

Clemson Tigers Cheerleaders [33]

5 Greatest Moments in Stanford Cardinal Football History [34]

10 Greatest Notre Dame Fighting Irish (since 1967) [35]

10 Greatest Stanford Cardinal (since 1967) [36]

Stanford Cardinal Cheerleaders [37]

Notre Dame Cheerleaders [38]

5 Greatest Moments in Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football History [39]

Like politicians, college football athletes and their universities also campaign to grab votes. Since the race for the Heisman kicks off this week, we thought we'd look back as some of our favorite campaigns to take home the coveted trophy.

College Football 2012 Awards Roundtable [40]

The Heisman isn't the only close race for Klein, Manziel and Te'o, plus a heated coach of the year race

The Heisman remains college football’s biggest prize, but players from every position will walk away with hardware Thursday night as part of the college football awards show (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. Eastern).

Athlon has chimed in all year with our picks for frontrunners for each award, and now the time has come for our staff to pick our winners.
[48]

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College Football's 2012 Postseason Awards and Recap [49]

College Football [2]
News [20]
ACC [3]
Big 12 [4]
Big East [21]
Big Ten [5]
Conference USA [50]
Independents [28]
MAC [51]
Mountain West [52]
Pac 12 [22]
SEC [7]
Sun Belt [53]
WAC [54]
Notre Dame Fighting Irish [13]
Texas A&M Aggies [17]

Athlon recaps the 2012 college football season.

With all of the BCS conferences finished with regular season play, it's time to take a look at the 2012 college football season and hand out some hardware. At the midpoint of 2012, all signs pointed to West Virginia's Geno Smith as the runaway Heisman favorite, while Oregon and Alabama appeared to be on a collision course for the national championship. And what a difference a couple of weeks can make. The Ducks were bounced out of the top five by Stanford, while the Crimson Tide lost to Texas A&M, yet rebounded back into No. 2 in the BCS standings.

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2012 Heisman Trophy Final Voting: Our winner is... [48]

The Heisman trophy voting should be close between a freshman and a linebacker.

Each week, the Athlon editors and others who closely follow college football vote on the most prestigious award in the sport. A 13-man conglomerate of college football gurus from Athlon Sports and other publications cast their votes for their top Heisman Trophy candidates. The votes will be tallied and the results will be posted as the Athlon Sports Heisman Watch List every week of the regular season.

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College Football's 2012 Postseason All-America Team [56]

College football's regular season is over. Now it's time to hand out the hardware.

College football's 2012 regular season is over, which means it's time to hand out the hardware. It's never easy compiling a postseason All-America team, especially after watching several players have excellent 2012 campaigns. Some positions required little debate (linebacker - Manti Te'o) but others (quarterback and running back) were difficult to sort out.

First-Team All-America Offense

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Ranking All 35 College Football Bowls for 2012: From Must-See to Must-Miss [57]

Athlon ranks the bowl games from No. 1-35.

Which bowls should you tune into? Athlon ranks and previews all of the matchups from the must-see to the ones you can avoid. Although Alabama and Notre Dame is clearly the biggest bowl game, with 34 other contests, there are plenty of other quality pairings to watch this postseason.

Ranking the 35 Bowl Games: Must-Watch to Must-Miss

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College Football Post-Week 13 Award Watch [88]

Kansas State's Klein, Georgia's Jones have chance to build case

This week will mark the final chance for award contenders to make their final pitches to voters across the country.

Heisman contenders Johnny Manziel, Manti Te’o and Braxton Miller have finished their seasons, so Collin Klein will have the opportunity to make the final statement. And he’s not just vying for the Heisman.

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Johnny Manziel vs. Collin Klein: Comparing the Heisman Contenders [91]

How do the two great Heisman contenders stack up against each other this fall?

The 2012 Heisman winner will likely be debated and argued about for years to come. There are a half-a-dozen candidates any of whom would be extremely qualified to take home the stiff-armed trophy. The hodge-podge of contenders this year includes freshmen, defensive players, ineligible teams and a host of record-setting stars.

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Texas A&amp;M Aggies

Heisman Milestones and Firsts Through the Years [1]

COMMENTS

What if the Heisman was awarded after the National Championship? [19]

COMMENTS

College Football's Best Heisman Campaigns [27]

Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

Collin Klein, QB, Kansas State

Ty Detmer, QB, BYU

Chase Daniel, QB, Missouri

Dan Persa, QB, Northwestern

Byron Leftwich, QB, Marshall

Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers

Robert Griffin, QB, Baylor

DeAngelo Williams, RB, Memphis

Graham Harrell, QB/Michael Crabtree, WR, TTU

Joe Theismann, QB, Notre Dame

Joey Harrington, QB, Oregon

Jason Gesser, QB, Washington State

Montee Ball, RB, Wisconsin

Dan LeFevour, QB, C. Michigan

Quinton Patton, WR, Louisiana Tech

Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin

Other Slideshows You Might Like

10 Greatest Clemson Tigers (since 1967) [31]

5 Greatest Moments in Clemson Tigers Football History [32]

Clemson Tigers Cheerleaders [33]

5 Greatest Moments in Stanford Cardinal Football History [34]

10 Greatest Notre Dame Fighting Irish (since 1967) [35]

10 Greatest Stanford Cardinal (since 1967) [36]

Stanford Cardinal Cheerleaders [37]

Notre Dame Cheerleaders [38]

5 Greatest Moments in Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football History [39]

COMMENTS

College Football 2012 Awards Roundtable [40]

COMMENTS

College Football's 2012 Postseason Awards and Recap [49]

COMMENTS

2012 Heisman Trophy Final Voting: Our winner is... [48]

COMMENTS

College Football's 2012 Postseason All-America Team [56]

COMMENTS

Ranking All 35 College Football Bowls for 2012: From Must-See to Must-Miss [57]

COMMENTS

College Football Post-Week 13 Award Watch [88]

COMMENTS

Johnny Manziel vs. Collin Klein: Comparing the Heisman Contenders [91]

COMMENTS

Texas A&M Aggies