10 Facts About The Heisman Trophy
By: Tony Thomas
After week 4, I will begin to follow the top offensive players and their performances each week to project the winner of the Heisman Trophy.
Here are 10 facts about the oldest award in college football:
- Named after John W. Heisman (1869-1936).
- Statue is made of cast bronze and weighs 25 pounds.
- Presented by the Heisman Trust, established after The New York Downtown Athletic Club closed its doors in 2001 after the 9-11 Terrorist Attacks.
- 1st winner was Jay Berwanger, HB, University of Chicago, 1936.
- The only 2-time winner is Archie Griffin, RB, Ohio State, 1974-1975.
- 1st African-American winner was Ernie Davis, HB, Syracuse, 1961.
- The only defensive player to win the award is Charles Woodson, DB, Michigan, 1997.
- 3 schools each have 7 recipients of the award: Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma.
- 5 Winners attended U.S. service academies: Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, and Pete Dawkins of Army, and Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach of Navy.
- The Heisman Committee determined that a cup or bowl style trophy was too plain, and the now famous stiff-arm design was created. The model used for the trophy was Ed Smith. Smith was the top player at New York University in 1934.
Thank you for reading.
Material for this article retrieved from: www.heisman.com.
