Your too young to remember Donny McPherson getting robbed of a Heisman because of a lack of a media campaign.
Don McPherson was denied the Heisman Trophy 26 years ago; all this time later, more's still the pity
It's been 26 years now since Syracuse University's Don McPherson finished second to Notre Dame's Tim Brown in the Heisman Trophy balloting. As McPherson was the toast of Eastern football and the quarterback of an Orange team that went 11-0-1 and finished fourth in the nation, it was (and remains) a sporting injustice.
(Mike Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)
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Bud Poliquin | bpoliquin@syracuse.com
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on December 11, 2013 at 2:00 PM, updated December 11, 2013 at 2:01 PM
Syracuse, N.Y. — If it's Wednesday afternoon, it's Grab Bag Time on the BudBlog. This week, that amounts to a jump into the "way-back" machine . . . or to that time when Don McPherson was the toast of Eastern football (and the quarterback of a Syracuse University team that would go 11-0-1 and finished No. 4 in the nation), but was denied the Heisman Trophy.
Three days from now, Florida State's Jameis Winston almost certainly will be saluted as the most outstanding player in college football when the Heisman people identify the winner of this year's prize.
While that will be good for him, the ceremony will serve again as that annual reminder of the sporting injustice of 1987 when McPherson, one of the Orange's contributions to the College Football Hall of Fame, finished second to Notre Dame's Tim Brown.
All this time later, more's still the pity.
Anyway, here's an oldie but goodie from December of 1987 . . .
New Orleans, La. — The young man had made appearances in Louisville and New York City and Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles. And Philadelphia was next. He had spent time considering offers to participate in all-star games in Japan and Hawaii and California and Alabama.
He had involved himself with conversations concerning the Heisman Trophy and the Johnny Unitas Award and the Maxwell Football Club's Player of the Year trophy and the Davey O'Brien Award. He had been interviewed by Sports Illustrated and People, by USA Today and the New York Times, by all of the networks and a bunch of radio stations.
In short, Syracuse University's Don McPherson had spent an awful lot of time being a celebrity, and very little of it being a football player. So, when he finally showed up in a team meeting room earlier this month — and in civvies for yet another press conference — he did so appearing more like a clay pigeon than a first-team All-American.
"Hey, look who's here," said center John Garrett, who was taped, passing through and pointing his verbal rifle. "Don McPherson. Wow. That's our quarterback, isn't it? What do you think? Can you practice today? On second thought, if you're too tired, rest up. Take the week off."
McPherson, whose stated plans were, in fact, to sleep away the afternoon, laughed.
"Come to think of it," he said, "I do have some jet lag. Maybe I will take the day off. Thanks."
So, you see, being a star does take its toll, even at the age of 22. All that hobbing and nobbing. Picking up so much hardware. Cracking wise with Bob Hope. Tough. Real tough. But what are you going to do?
The answer? Enjoy it. Simply and thoroughly. And Don McPherson has done just that.
"It's been a dream," he said, and he was thinking beyond his itinerary. "And I'm a person who hangs on a long time to his dreams."
Which would seem to bode well for the Orangemen, 11-0 with one game to go. That, in the Sugar Bowl when the kind of college football history that does not often take place — a club's going unbeaten and pretty much unquestioned &mdsh; can be fully written against Auburn here Friday afternoon.
It is a truth that Dick MacPherson, the SU coach who must be accorded some of the credit for the flowering of his well-honored quarterback, saw it all coming. Indeed, two Decembers ago when most people identified merely a nice player barking signals for the Cherry Bowl-bound Orangemen, MacPherson made out something altogether different.
"Donnie," he said back then, "is going to be the story in the East for the next two years."
Little did anybody realize, of course, that MacPherson meant east of Tokyo. But apparently he did. Or should have, because after starting nine games as a sophomore (during which time SU went 6-3), McPherson became majestic in his junior and senior campaigns. To wit:
He completed 271 of his 498 passes for 4,168 yards, he ran 301 times for 722 more, and he accounted (by throwing, rushing or catching) for 46 touchdowns during SU's 22 games. He was, simply, an offensive franchise. And one, with a 16-2 record in his last 18 starts, easily recognizable.
"Syracuse can do everything," said Penn State's Joe Paterno, past whom nothing slips, "as long as it keeps Don McPherson healthy."
Done and done, because other than slight sprains of a knee and an ankle, mere scratches to a quarterback, McPherson has maintained his health during this 1987 season, and the Orangemen have yet to lose. Be advised that this is no coincidence.
Oh, there have been other grand offensive developments here. The youthful line has meshed beautifully. The stable of youthful running backs — Robert Drummond, Daryl Johnston and Michael Owens — has rolled since September. And the receivers, the Tommy Kanes and Pat Kellys and Rob Moores, have rarely dropped what has been tossed their way.
But this has been a Syracuse offense whose signature has belonged to Don McPherson, the dapper fifth-year senior from Long Island who now strolls beneath his fedora about the French Quarter.
For instance, when asked about his 17-yard catch for the touchdown with just 10 seconds to play that put the Orangemen in a position to defeat West Virginia, 32-31, in the regular-season finale, Kelly invoked the name of his quarterback.
"There was no way I was
not going to catch that pass," the senior tight end said. "Donnie told me it was coming, and when a player of his caliber shows that much confidence in my abilities, there was no way I was letting him down."
The word for which you may be searching here is respect. Especially when you consider that before that pass was thrown, before that final 74-yard drive was begun with 92 seconds to play, before the Orange offense even took the field at that point, trailing 31-24, Don McPherson was at work.
On the sidelines, he was already mulling over the various plays that might be called. For the two-point conversion.
Now, it would be inaccurate to suggest that McPherson performed in mythic fashion in '87 beginning with the season-opening win over Maryland. As a matter of fact, even he had expressed a certain dismay with his production heading into the Penn State game. It hadn't been bad, he allowed; rather just unremarkable.
But beginning with the first snap (which resulted in an 80-yard touchdown pass to Moore) of that smashing 48-21 victory over the Nittany Lions and continuing through that moment when he pitched the ball back to Owens on the "48-49 load" play for the two-point conversion that beat West Virginia, McPherson has been the best player in college football.
And, beyond the fact that his Orangemen averaged 39.1 points per game during that six-week stretch, here's why:
Penn State: 336 yards passing, good for three touchdowns. Also, two rushing touchdowns. 48-21, and 6-0.
Colgate: 244 yards passing, good for four touchdowns. Also, one reception of a touchdown pass from Drummond. 52-6 and 7-0.
Pittsburgh: 178 yards passing, good for two touchdowns. Also, one rushing touchdown. 24-10, and 8-0.
Navy: 197 yards passing, good for two touchdowns. 34-10, and 9-0.
Boston College: 211 yards passing, good for two touchdowns. Moreover, the direction of seven consecutive scoring drives. 45-17, and 10-0.
West Virginia: 246 yards passing, good for two touchdowns, including the one to Kelly that went so far in preserving the unbeaten season. 32-31, and 11-0.
"I felt I improved with every game, with every play," McPherson explained. "If you look at the stats, you'll see that I'm the No. 1-rated passer in the country. It just goes to show that I was right about what I said back in August. I have to say that when I'm alone I think about the people who doubted me and have a good time."
Oh, those doubters still exist, and — having conquered the college world, Auburn notwithstanding — they are the very ones McPherson next hopes to sway.
Understand that professional football types don't like their quarterbacks to stand just a half-inch over six feet and weigh less than 180 pounds, as does McPherson. And considering that they play between 20-24 contests per year in the NFL, including exhibitions and playoffs, nor do the big boys much care for a guy who can lose 20 pounds during an 11-game season as McPherson admitted he has done during this heralded march to the bayou.
"He's a late first- or second-round choice as a wide receiver," said Mel Kiper Jr., the noted NFL Draft guru who serves as an expert analyst for ESPN. "The main negative is his size. The prototype NFL quarterback is 6-2 to 6-4, preferably over 200 pounds so he can take punishment. The question I have is size. He has to get back in the pocket and look over huge linemen."
All of which does not sound too promising for Donald McPherson, QB. But then . . .
"He's got those bird legs," said Larry Csonka, the former SU/Miami Dolphins great, "but that's all right. They'll get him on that Cybex machine and build them up. Look, don't talk to me about bodies. I played pro ball for a lot of years and you wouldn't believe some of the bodies I saw walking in and out of the shower.
"I swear, I'd look at some of those guys and wonder how the hell they could play in the NFL. Me? Give me a bunch of people who get ornery when they're down by a touchdown and I'll show you a group of champions."
And then, the Zonk paused.
"Besides," he said, finally, "how big was Bart Starr? He didn't do too badly, did he?"
Starr was 6-1, or a half-inch taller that McPherson. And he weighed 200 pounds when he played for the Green Bay Packers, or six more than McPherson did prior to the Maryland game. And no, he didn't do too badly at all.
