So long, Sam: Bradford should bolt to NFL
Posted: Saturday, December 13, 2008 9:57 PM
While wondering if there’s ever been a case of second-place votes being so important in an “election,” we’re back to wrap up the events surrounding Saturday's coronation of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford as the 74th Heisman Trophy winner.
SO LONG SAM: Win or lose on Jan. 8, the BCS national championship game will be our last look at Bradford at this level. With his stock as high as it ever could be as a collegian right now, he’d be crazy to turn down the opportunity to take his multi-million-dollar right arm to the NFL next season. Although he’s probably not looking forward to joining the likes of the Lions, Bengals, Rams or Chiefs, the time is now. If Bradford has to sit and watch Georgia’s Matthew Stafford be the first quarterback drafted, that might not be such a bad thing.
OBSSESSED WITH STATS: Perhaps we’ve become so used to this that it goes unquestioned or unnoticed, but let’s take another shot. Why are stats seen as so crucial in all of this? In deciding upon “college football’s most outstanding player” there seems to be way too much focus on making comparisons between college football’s most statistically accomplished players. Stats are just one way to stand out and comparisons are rarely apples-to-apples.
Voters -- yours truly included -- need to be deprogrammed and increase their ability to look past all the gaudy numbers that are constantly posted and promoted. At some point it would be refreshing to not have future Heismans be the exclusive domain of quarterbacks, with rare cameo appearances by running backs. Positions that aren’t as heavily tied to statistics deserve consideration as well.
MOMENTARY BRILLANCE: It’s been a while since we’ve had three finalists as equally deserving as this trio, but it’s been even longer since we’ve had fewer “Heisman moments” to remember them by.
Ironically enough, Graham Harrell, the Texas Tech gunslinger, who was denied a trip to New York City, was the one with the strongest “Heisman moment” during the 2008 season. His touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with one second remaining that provided the winning margin against Texas on Nov. 1 couldn’t have been more dramatically uplifting if it were produced by Disney. But in the end, that remarkable 28-yard game-winner played a bigger role in determining the national championship than it did in the Heisman race. Harrell finished well back in fourth place, trailing third-place Tim Tebow by more than 1,300 points.
Tebow’s “moment” was his impassioned public vow following Florida’s 31-30 loss to Mississippi on Sept. 27. Displaying a level of leadership not seen in several generations, if ever, he backed up every word on the way to the national championship game, by way of the Big Apple. McCoy’s “moment” was beating Bradford in a head-to-head matchup in Dallas on Oct. 11, which once again didn’t amount to enough. Bradford didn’t really have a “moment.” He’ll be remembered for his stellar stat sheet.
MORE OF THE SAME: Assuming that he stays in school, Tebow, who is not typically what NFL teams look for under center, is unquestionably the leader in the race for next year’s Heisman. Receiving the most first place votes, but finishing in third place, just adds more ammo to Tebow’s arsenal for 2009. If some voters shied away from helping him become only the second two-time winner in the award’s history, that bias will be absorbed by the feeling that he was victimized by some regional bias in the Southwest where he was left off an inappropriate amount of ballots.
McCoy, who has already indicated that he will return for his senior season at Texas, also will remain a factor in next season’s race.
If they decide to stay in school, any one of the following players could pose a strong challenge to Tebow and McCoy (we're assuming Bradford bolts for the NFL): Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree, Iowa running back Shonn Greene, Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno and USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez is the most likely player within that group to not only remain in college, but also to have a strong enough team around him to stay in contention until the end. And another Pac-10 product, California running back Jahvid Best, is an excellent darkhorse candidate.
