How many Heisman winners won Super Bowl MVP?

Cam Newton has a chance to join elite company if the Carolina Panthers quarterback can win the Super Bowl MVP against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.

Before he was breaking records and dancing his way into the Super Bowl with the Carolina Panthers, Cam Newton was breaking records and dancing his way to the Heisman Trophy for the Auburn Tigers in 2010. Newton would go on to lead Auburn to the BCS National Championship with a narrow victory over the Oregon Ducks and was the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.

As if all of those accolades weren’t enough for Newton, he has a chance to join a very exclusive club after Super Bowl 50.

If Newton is able to lead the Panthers to a win in Super Bowl 50, he will become the 10th former Heisman winner to win the Super Bowl out of 18 players to play in the Big Game. But if he is also able to win the Super Bowl MVP, he will become only the fourth former Heisman winner to win that honor. Should Newton win Super Bowl MVP he will join Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett and Desmond Howard in one of the most exclusive groupings in sports history.

Staubach won the Heisman as the quarterback for Navy in 1963 and made it to Super Bowls V, VI, VII and XIII, winning Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl VI when he completed 12 of 19 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the 24-3 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Plunkett won the Heisman at Stanford in 1970 and played in Super Bowl XV and XVIII where he won the MVP after leading the Oakland Raiders to a 27-3 win over the Philadelphia Eagles with 261 yards and three touchdowns.

Allen won the Heisman at USC in 1981 and put on a record-breaking display for the Raiders against the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII when he ran for a then-Super Bowl record 191 yards, including a then-record 74-yard touchdown run. He also caught two passes for 18 yards and had two touchdowns in the Raiders 38-9 win.

The fourth and the most recent Heisman winner to win the Super Bowl MVP is Desmond Howard who won the Heisman as a wide receiver for the Michigan Wolverines in 1991 but made his impact for the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI against the New England Patriots as a return man.

After Drew Bledsoe threw a touchdown to Curtis Martin late in the third quarter to draw within six of the Packers, Howard fielded the ensuing kickoff at the one-yard line and raced 99 yards to the end zone to effectively end any hopes the Pats had of a comeback and won 35-21.

Howard became the first Super Bowl MVP to win the honor based solely on his special teams performances and they sure were special as he set a Super Bowl record with 90 punt return yards and 154 kickoff return yards with one touchdown for 244 all-purpose yards to tie a Super Bowl record.

Do you think Newton will join Staubach, Plunkett, Allen and Howard and make it five former Heisman winners who are also Super Bowl MVP’s?

Newton’s Panthers are the betting favorite to defeat Peyton Manning and the Broncos in Super Bowl 50 so the odds are in his favor, but historically speaking winning the Heisman and winning the Super Bowl MVP has only been done four times in 49 games. That means 8 percent of Heisman winners have won a Super Bowl MVP.

If you’ve followed Newton’s career you know he’s fully capable of beating long odds and coming out on top.

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