Heisman Winners who "made it" in the NFL

[SWC75]

A caller to "Bud and the Manchild" today asked how many Heisman winners have "made it" in the NFL. It was suggested that i might be be able to come up with an answer. I just sent them this via. E-mail:


A caller today wondered who won the Heisman Trophy and gone on to “make it” in the NFL. I assumed he meant to become a star-quality player in the NFL. I decided to see what Heisman winners had been chosen to play in the pro bowl, which began in 1950, as a measure of “making it”.


The earliest Heisman Trophy winner who was still playing in the NFL in 1950 was the 1946 winner, Glenn Davis and he played in the Pro Bowl. The others, with their trophy winning year:
1947 Johnny Lujack
1948 Doak Walker
1949 Leon Hart
1953 Johnny Lattner
1954 Alan Ameche
1956 Paul Hornung
1957 John David Crow
1963 Rger Staubuach
1968 OJ Simpson
1969 Steve Owens
1976 Tony Dorsett
1977 Earl Campbell
1978 Billy Sims
1979 Charles White
1980 George Rogers
1981 Marcus Allen
1982 Herschel Walker
1983 Mike Rozier
1984 Doug Flutie
1985 Bo Jackson
1986 Vinnie Testaverde
1987 Tim Brown L
1988 Barry Saunders
1991 Desmond Howard
1995 Eddie George
1997 Charles Woodson
1998 Ricky Williams
2002 Carson Palmer
2010 Cam Newton
2012 Robert Griffin III

I’ll add in these names: Billy Cannon (1959) and Mike Garrett (1965) played in the AFL All-star game. Jim Plunkett, (197)) won two Super Bowls but never played in the pro Bowl. Sam Bradford (2010) was the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year in 2011. I think you can say they “made it” in the NFL. The last two winners are still laying college ball. Prior to Davis, pro football was not really “big time and many eschewed it. Also several of them went right into military service during the war and had no or limited careers in football after they got out. Davey O’Brien (138) played in the 1939 NFL All-star game , (between the champion Green Bay Packers and an all-star team from the rest of the league), then retired after the 1940 season to become an FBI agent. If you read about Tom Harmon’s career with the Rams, I think he did fairly well but he retired after two years with leg problems. Frankie Sinkwichw as the NFL MVP in 1944, two eyars after winnign the Heisman.

Others, (Doc Blanchard, Davis, Pete Dawkins, Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach) had military service requirements to fulfill. Blanchard and Dawkins remained in the Military and Bellino had a very limited pro career after he got out.

If you add O’Brien, Harmon, Sinkwich, Cannon, Garrett, Plunkett and Bradford to the above list, I’d say that 38 Heisman Trophy winners have “made it” in the NFL out of 77 through 2012. That’s 49%. if you eliminate the guys who never gave the NFL a try (Jay Berwanger, Larry Kelley, Clinton Frank, Nile Kinnick, Doc Blanchard and Pete Dawkins), it's 38 of 71 (53.5%).

 

[jgeorge322]

i know you're going off probowls, but mark ingram is having himself a nice year and he's stuck in the league, albeit not a star. rgiii... not so much.

 

[texascpa]

Wonder if the recent fall-off is because the Heisman has become a marketing game - who can put up the most stats, not necessarily who was the best all-around college player. Plus, throw in the fact that the game has become more and more QB-centric.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

Interesting, just looking at that list it appears that the Raiders (Oakland, LA, whatever) have had the most Heisman winners to play for them (not necessarily draft selections) maybe followed by the Cowboys or Oilers (of Houston or Tennessee variety.)

 

[KaiserUEO]

tough list, i dont think Charles White 'made it', but yes he did make a pro bowl, but ron dayne actually career out rushed him and hes off your list.

i dont really consider desmond howard as 'making' it either.

and those were just off the top of my head.

 

[SWC75]

tough list, i dont think Charles White 'made it', but yes he did make a pro bowl, but ron dayne actually career out rushed him and hes off your list.

i dont really consider desmond howard as 'making' it either.

and those were just off the top of my head.

You can use whatever criteria you want. I just thought making the pro bowl would give me a short cut in the analysis.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Good stuff.

Interestingly, only 8 of those guys went onto the Pro Hall of Fame

Doak Walker
Paul Horung
Roger Staubach
OJ Simpson
Tony Dorsett
Earl Campbell
Marcus Allen
Barry Sanders

and Charles Woodson is a lock.

A lot of snubs in the Heisman voting.

56 - Jim Brown (At least the guy who won is in the HoF)
64 - Dick Butkus
93 - Marshall Faulk
00 - LaDanian Tomlinson
03 - Larry Fitzgerald/Eli Manning

 

[SWC75]

Good stuff.

Interestingly, only 8 of those guys went onto the Pro Hall of Fame

Doak Walker
Paul Horung
Roger Staubach
OJ Simpson
Tony Dorsett
Earl Campbell
Marcus Allen
Barry Sanders

and Charles Woodson is a lock.

A lot of snubs in the Heisman voting.

56 - Jim Brown (At least the guy who won is in the HoF)
64 - Dick Butkus
93 - Marshall Faulk
00 - LaDanian Tomlinson
03 - Larry Fitzgerald/Eli Manning

Paul Hornung went on to one the greatest pro careers of any Heisman Trophy winner. But he's also clearly the most undeserving of Heisman Trophy winners, a quarterback who threw 3 touchdown passes, (vs. 13 interceptions) for a 2-8 team. That's a Heisman winner?!?

 

[UnknownOrange]

Paul Hornung went on to one the greatest pro careers of any Heisman Trophy winner. But he's also clearly the most undeserving of Heisman Trophy winners, a quarterback who threw 3 touchdown passes, (vs. 13 interceptions) for a 2-8 team. That's a Heisman winner?!?

I know the era wasn't as stat-ecentric as it is today but my god. What a joke

 

[KaiserUEO]

Good stuff.

Interestingly, only 8 of those guys went onto the Pro Hall of Fame

Doak Walker
Paul Horung
Roger Staubach
OJ Simpson
Tony Dorsett
Earl Campbell
Marcus Allen
Barry Sander

and Charles Woodson is a lock.

A lot of snubs in the Heisman voting.

56 - Jim Brown (At least the guy who won is in the HoF)
64 - Dick Butkus
93 - Marshall Faulk
00 - LaDanian Tomlinson
03 - Larry Fitzgerald/Eli Manning

Tim Brown is a HOF lock too.

eddie george will be close.

criteria is tough call. probowl is good, but is 5 years a better #? 7?

but then did bo jackson really 'make' it? billy sims?

billy more than bo.

 

[AZOrange]

Tim Brown is a HOF lock too. eddie george will be close. criteria is tough call. probowl is good, but is 5 years a better #? 7? but then did bo jackson really 'make' it? billy sims? billy more than bo.

The "bo" problem is that for as short as his career was he was always the best player on the field by a long shot. If his career had let him, he might have been one of the best ever statwise

 

[cmr27]

Tim Brown is a HOF lock too.

eddie george will be close.

It's the other way around. I believe Eddie George and The Great Jim Brown are the only running backs to reach 10,000 rushing yards without missing a single game in the process.

Eddie George was the last running back to carry a team on his back to a Super Bowl. I think he was the last guy to get the ball over and over and over without anyone getting any funny ideas about running back by committee. He transcended his era.

Statistical inflation has hit anyone and everyone in the pass game -- QBs, WRs, TEs (Shannon Sharpe is a perfect case in point).

Whether it is the Heisman or HOF, we should instinctively grade harder on any player involved in the modern passing game.

When you think of hard guys to tackle, George quickly comes to mind. When you think of dangerous receivers, you probably think of three dozen guys before you remember Tim Brown even existed.

Drew Pearson was on the all-decade team for the 1970s and he gave the world the Hail Mary. Until he gets in the HOF, they shouldn't let any other receiver in. Again, it's all about inflated numbers. Pearson led the NFL in receiving yards in 1977. In today's world of easy yardage, leading the league in receiving yards means you have about 1,700. In the 1970s, with a shorter schedule and prison rules for allowable coverage, leading the league in receiving meant about 870 yards.

Finally, we all know Brown's Heisman was fugazy and that the real winner wore orange. He's had enough undeserved kudos.

 

[SWC75]

But he "made it" in the NFL.

 

[Scotty44]

Recent fall off in recent years is because the college game has changed so much from the pro game. With the spread offense and gimmick offenses in college that don't translate to the NFL. I wouldn't say guys like Newton and RGIII made it in the NFL. Both are mediocre to bad QB's who have won nothing.

Probably not since Carson Palmer has a Heisman winner "made it".