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The best player of any age
FSU's Chris Weinke has thrown for 3,490 yards and 25 touchdowns. Andy Lyons/Allsport |
By Stewart Mandel, CNNSI.com
All season long, I've heard more reasons offered why Chris Weinke shouldn't win the Heisman Trophy than why he should.
"He's 28 years old -- that's unfair." "It's his receivers, not him." "He's on TV more."
Now, here's why he should win. Chris Weinke is the best college football player in the country, by far. He probably has been for two years now, but this season he's been on a whole other level. He deserves to be rewarded whether he's 18, 28 or 88.
More than likely, Weinke's going to end up with more than 4,000 yards. 4,000 yards, and this isn't a Tim Couch-type 4,000 yards either. Florida State runs the ball an average 40 times a game.
As for the competition, Michael Vick is the better athlete, but he hasn't had a Heisman-caliber year. Josh Heupel has that perfect record, but that hasn't seemed to matter for five of the last six winners. Drew Brees has had a great year, but not quite as great as Weinke's.
And I don't care what anyone says, performance in past years does matter. It did for Ron Dayne. It did for Ricky Williams. And Weinke has a 30-2 record, a national championship ring, 9,162 passing yards and 71 touchdown passes.
Head to head, it's admittedly hard to argue Weinke against Josh Heupel based on this season alone. Heupel has slightly better stats, has won all his games, plays for the No. 1 team in the country.
The question you have to ask yourself is this: All other circumstances aside, if you had your pick of two to play quarterback for your college football team, would you really pass on Chris Weinke for Josh Heupel? Would you? Would you pass on that cannon arm, brilliant leadership and ability to read defenses?
If not, then you, like me, agree that Weinke is the better player. And therefore the deserving Heisman winner.
| Anyone but Heupel, an outrage
Oklahoma's Josh Heupel has completed 68 percent of his passes, with only five interceptions.
Brian Bahr/Allsport |
By Trev Alberts, CNNSI.com
Josh Heupel ought to win it. Chris Weinke will win it. That's a shame.
I have nothing against Chris Weinke, but take him off the Seminoles football team, and their record's the same. Chris Weinke throws a lot of balls that are 5-yard passes where Snoop Minnis makes a great move and turns it into 80.
I'm not saying Oklahoma doesn't have some great players around Josh Heupel. But take Josh Heupel off the Sooners, and that's an average football team. He's not very big, he doesn't have a very strong arm, he's not very fast. But teams have tried everything to beat him and had no answer. What he did to Nebraska solidified it for me.
But after throwing for almost 200 yards in the second half of a 54-7 game he shouldn't have still been playing, I have to listen to Lee Corso tell me Chris Weinke has "wrapped up the Heisman Trophy." This is the same Lee Corso who blasted Sonny Lubick on-air for leaving Matt Newton in during the second half against BYU last Thursday night.
How can a guy who's played one good team, Miami, and lost, have it wrapped up?! Come on. Let's take this thing seriously here. There may be voters out there listening.
For everything that the Downtown Athletic Club stands for, a picture of Josh Heupel hanging there will be more symolic of a true Heisman winner than that of Chris Weinke.
I go back to 1993. The Heisman was already over. Florida State's Charlie Ward had already won it. But you know what a true Heismam Trophy winner does? My Nebraska team was winning 16-15, we had sacked him five times and been drilling him all night. But with 1:07 left on the clock, Charlie Ward drives them down the field to victory, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind why he was the Heisman Trophy winner.
My point is, Josh Heupel has passed that test by beating three straight top 10 teams. To throw for 500 yards on Clemson, to lose to Miami -- that's not passing the test.
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