Protesting the secrecy of the Heisman Trophy vote by resigning oneself from voting for the award could be an effective strategy if no one was willing to replace you as a voter. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Would more openness in the process of Heisman voting be by welcomed by fans? Of course. Is the lack of transparency even a real issue compared to the larger ones surrounding the award handed out each season to “the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.” It’s not even close.
It appears that the recent drop-outs of Heisman voting aren’t absconders. They let you know that they are quitting. They might even write a letter to the Heisman Trust spelling out their displeasure. One of my colleagues has already discussed the nature of such public complaints, but these departures by voters also point to serious issues with the Heisman vote.
In Dennis Dodd’s
“Open Letter” he informs us that there were 928 voters in 2012 and that “there are Heisman voters who have a hard time telling the difference between a first down and a spatula.” While there is undoubtedly hyperbole in that statement, how far from the truth is it? Stiff Arm Trophy maintains
a list of confirmed voters and when you peruse the list, there will be names and outlets you have never heard of. The list contains names which will dumbfound you and may denote some of your friends as well.
Former Heisman winners are also given a vote and fans are allowed one collective vote. What qualifies any of those persons to vote for the Heisman? According to the Heisman Trust, “informed, competent and impartial” sports journalists from across the country comprise the Heisman electorate. What then accounts for all of the TV and radio personalities one can find on the long list of confirmed voters? Jenni Carlson
points out that journalist Dan Le Batard’s father, Gonzalo Le Batard, has a vote.
Some voters also turn in a ballot before all the games are even played. Carlson and Dodd mention real issues with the voting process offhand but make their dispute with the Heisman Trust the focus of the story instead of those issues which plague the legitimacy of the award. Another trend that should not go unnoticed: quarterbacks of won the Heisman 11 times from 2000 to the present. While such a trend of positional success is not unprecedented (running backs including Archie Griffin, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen and Herschel Walker claimed 11 straight Heisman victories from 1973-1983), each season we feel further and further from ever again seeing a wide receiver or a defensive player winning the Heisman Trophy. There are years that I think an entire offensive line should share the award but this would require a rule change on the part of the Heisman Trust.
If you want to address the issues with the Heisman vote, tell the Heisman Trust (under the threat of exposing the names of the guilty) to take back the vote from voters whom you know are unflinchingly biased or don’t know enough about football to be voting and from the voters you know turn in ballots before the season is over. It would not exactly be breaking new ground. You know that these people have no business voting and the public shaming of clueless AP Top 25 voters is not new. You can also use your voice to combat the forced narratives from television about a certain player’s “Heisman moment” during a broadcast.
The reason why we know who is going to win the award almost every season is because of the construction of such narratives that end up being believed (this is not to mention the hilarity of preseason watch lists and articles that present highly unrealistic names in front of us as serious candidates). Every 60-yard run for a touchdown or two or three touchdown performance by an impact player on a successful BCS AQ team in a Top 15 upset is not a “Heisman moment.” Quarterbacks putting up monster numbers or at least huge numbers for a BCS AQ team should not automatically impress you. It should take work to figure out when, where and against which teams the numbers came against. It is too easy to not watch enough games, to trust the narratives and to allow the Heisman to become just another quarterback award sometimes won by a running back.
Don’t give up on the process, disgruntled Heisman voters, work to change it.
