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No grudges Leftwich not bitter about Heisman Trophy finalist snubPosted: Wednesday December 11, 2002 7:16 PMHUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Byron Leftwich's second straight 4,000-yard passing season fell short of making him a Heisman Trophy finalist. Leftwich wasn't among the five players invited Wednesday to Saturday's trophy presentation ceremony in New York City. A slow recovery from a leg injury sustained in early November ended his candidacy. "I'm not disappointed at all," Leftwich said. "I don't hold any grudges. Nobody promised me I'd be one of those guys in the first place." The finalists are quarterbacks Brad Banks of Iowa and Carson Palmer of Southern California, Penn State running back Larry Johnson, and the Miami duo of quarterback Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee. Marshall was hoping to make Leftwich the school's third Heisman finalist since the Thundering Herd rejoined Division I-A in 1997. Randy Moss finished fourth in the balloting that year and Chad Pennington, Leftwich's predecessor, was fifth in 1999. Marshall tried to build up Leftwich's name recognition, distributing thousands of bobblehead dolls, CD-ROMs and posters to fans and Heisman voters nationwide. Leftwich sustained an injury to his left shin on Nov. 2. He missed one game and threw for just 219 yards upon returning three weeks later. "I would have loved to have seen how it would have went if I wouldn't have gotten hurt, but it's something out of my control," Leftwich said. Marshall's status as a Mid-American Conference team and its weak competition also hurt Leftwich's chances. Still, Leftwich had five 400-yard games this year, including the final two weeks of the season. On Saturday he threw for 404 yards and four TDs, including a 40-yarder with 49 seconds left, in a 49-45 win over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference championship game. Leftwich will likely follow in the footsteps of Moss and Pennington in another fashion -- both were NFL first-round draft picks the following season. And Fresno State's David Carr, another 4,000-yard passer who wasn't a Heisman finalist in 2001, ended up being the overall No. 1 pick last spring. "I'll let those guys decide all that," Leftwich said. Some experts have rated the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Leftwich as one of the top players available in the draft. He led the nation in total offense and completed 69 percent of his passes for 4,019 yards, 26 touchdown and nine interceptions. "Byron's in a league of his own," offensive lineman Nate McPeek said. "He's one of the best, and I'm sure that's going to be proven in April's draft." |
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