NFL
By: Mark Wilson
The most prestigious College Football Award was handed out Saturday night in New York City and the wrong player walked away with the hardware. Joe Burrow of LSU took home the Heisman Award in a landslide but how did it even come to this? Was Burrow that much better than the other three finalists? Did he do something so remarkable that his stats and leadership were better than what Jalen Hurts did at Oklahoma? The simple answer to that is no.
Let’s break this down as to why I was so stunned at the final decision.
Burrow’s stats are not as overly impressive as Hurts’. Burrow passed for 4715 yards and 48 touchdowns while completing 77.9 percent of his passes plus tucked the ball 96 times for 286 yards and another three touchdowns on the ground. Yes, those are Heisman-winning numbers. Hurts, on the other hand, passed for 3634 yards and 32 touchdowns while completing 71.8 percent of his passes. As far as his ground attack, Hurts ran the ball 219 times for 1255 yards and another 18 touchdowns.
Burrow has the better stats but I still believe that the Heisman voters should look much deeper than the numbers. Even before the winner was announced Saturday, we were given backstory’s on each finalist. Burrow’s past was brought up regarding his departure from Ohio State. That was all well and good but his story is not as compelling as what Jalen Hurts has gone through.
Burrow’s time in Ohio State was not impressive, while Hurts’ time in Alabama was the stuff of legends. Burrow didn’t get to see the field as much. But Hurts, that’s a different story. He led the Crimson Tide to the National Championship Game as a true freshman and lost. The following season, he returned and won a title. His third year was up and down and Nick Saban pulled the plug but still, the Tide and Hurts found themselves in the title game, yet again
The reason why the voters made a mistake is that if the stats were equal then you look at the fine print of a player’s contributions.
During the Heisman Media Event leading up to the final decision, the word “leader” kept being tossed around when describing Joe Burrow. I mean, a player who leads his team to an undefeated regular season deserves that distinction but that’s a bit unfair that Hurts didn’t get that same praise. This is not about color, this is about leadership.
Burrow came into the 2019 season familiar wth LSU, the players, the fans, the coaches, the division, the expectations, and the offensive scheme. However, Hurts was on an island in a new conference, a new city, new coaches, new players, new schemes, and new expectations. And how did he handle all that? All he did was win 12 games, put up outstanding numbers and erased the notion that he is not a real leader or QB.
While at Alabama, Hurts, after graduation did not have a career in the NFL. In one season at Oklahoma, Hurts is now considered a top 10 player in the 2020 NFL Draft. Once again, if the numbers are similar then why not look at the intangibles in which a player brings to their team? Hurts was new to all of this at Oklahoma and handled himself better than most expected.
He left possibly the best football conference and one of the most accomplished schools in NCAA history and rewrote their books and his own. And yet, he was snubbed because LSU never fell. Now, for Jalen Hurts, here is a chance at redemption. Oklahoma and LSU will meet in the CFB Playoff Semi-Final and if Hurts leads the Sooners to a victory over Burrow and the Tigers then what?
Will we be allowed to start a petition to take back the Heisman Trophy and give it to its rightful owner?
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