When ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit asked University of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota if he wanted to win the Heisman, he said, “Honestly, and I mean it sincerely, no, not really. You know, I’d rather be named a Super Bowl champion. or presented as a national champion, than the Heisman Trophy. If you can go out and be presented that way, you know, it says a lot more about your team than it does about you. “
Many assume that he was just another athlete who received good media training and perhaps he was not being as sincere as he claimed in that interview. Only Mariota knows the truth, but what I do know is that if Mariota did her homework regarding other Heisman Trophy winners, it would be wise if she did not want to win the award. Given he’s about to start his third year in a red jersey as a college graduate, it’s a good bet that Marcus is as adept at doing his homework as he is at playing soccer.
Facts show that only eight Heisman Trophy winners in history have been inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame. Of those eight, only one was a quarterback, Roger Staubach, who won the award in 1963 and was inducted into the NFL HOF in 1985, eight years before Mariota was born.
Seventeen of the last twenty-five Heisman Trophy winners have been quarterbacks, and probably the two most distinguished players of the seventeen are Carson Palmer and Cam Newton. Of that group, only Palmer, Newton and Robert Griffin III have been invited to play in the Pro Bowl. Only Palmer and Ty Detmer have started an NFL play-off game during their NFL careers. Throwing seventeen darts at a board that randomly placed all the draft-eligible quarterback names during those same years would likely produce a more distinguished roster of NFL quarterback careers.
So is there a Heisman Jinx as some proclaim? I do not think so. Most likely it is a combination of things. They state that the Heisman Trophy will be awarded to a person designated as the outstanding college football player in the United States. I think most of the time, that is not the case. It is usually awarded annually to the best player on one of the best teams, and the hype often overshadows performance in the eyes of some voters. Regional biases also influence who wins the award. There is also a potential mental aspect of resting on your laurels and not getting better after winning the award.
Of course, great college players don’t always translate into great professional players. However, most college players have career aspirations. Marcus Mariota has already said that he would rather win a Super Bowl or a national championship, and the facts show that he is more likely to do the former and no less likely to achieve the latter if he does not win the Heisman.
Mariota may also simply realize, like all great players, that it is a waste of time to worry about things that are beyond his control and to spend his time working on things that are under his control, such as how hard he works.
When you focus on the process, you are more likely to get all the results you want, and often more.
You can follow Sam on Twitter @SuperTaoInc
