Heisman Snub

The finalists were announced for the 2008 Heisman Trophy Award that will be handed out this Saturday night in New York. Every year there seems to be a player or two who should be considered into the argument for who is the “most outstanding player” of the year. But this year, there is a glaring omission from the finalist. If you are a finalist you are flown to New York a couple of days early and you have some dinner’s with the other finalist and past winners and you make some appearances for charity and other events, basically you go to New York to meet the other finalist, past winners and other big wigs in the Downtown Athletic club. Usually they have 4-5 guys that make the trip with only 2-3 guys who realistically have a shot at wining. This year they only invited 3 players; Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, and Sam Bradford. All three of these quarterbacks had great seasons, but how could they not include Graham Harrell? Harrell pretty much dropped out of the race when Texas Tech lost to Oklahoma by the score of 65-21, but every one of the finalists had a loss as well. Harrell’s passing numbers stack up to the other two Big 12 QB’s (Bradford and McCoy) and are far better than Tebows.

Bradford - 186.29 rating, 4,464 yards, 48 touchdowns, 68.3 completion percentage – plus 65 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns

McCoy - 179.20 rating, 3,445 yards, 34 touchdowns, 77.6 completion percentage — plus 576 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns

Tebow – 176.7 rating, 2,515yards, 28 touchdowns, 64.9completion percentage – plus 564 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns

Harrell - 163.03 rating, 4,747 yards, 41 touchdowns, 71.5 completion percentage – with a negative 58 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns.

Listen, I don’t think Graham Harrell should win the Heisman, I personally think it should be Colt McCoy. But I feel like he got screwed as far as not being named a finalist and getting the trip and the recognition he deserves. He had one bad game this year and in that game he still had 361 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. I guess the Heisman Trophy Trust didn’t feel like they needed to invite Harrell, but that is a double slap in the face since last year Hawaii QB, Colt Brenan was invited and he never had a shot at wining! The committee needs to stay consistent with their invites.

As I stated earlier, I think Colt McCoy should win the Heisman, but I am pretty sure it will go to Tim Tebow. If that happens, he will be only the second player to ever win it two years in a row. But I hope the voters actually understand what they are voting on, “the most outstanding football player of the year”, not “the most valuable player to a wining team.” Anyway, the presentation will be held on Saturday night at 8pm on ESPN, if you care to check it out.