NCAA Football: 25 Heisman Trophy finalists who should have won in hindsight
By John Scimeca
The case for Steve McNair to win the Heisman Trophy 25 years ago boils down to an interesting argument: Could an FCS player today lay claim to college football’s most prestigious award? If the best player in college football plays in a lower-tier division, could he possibly have a chance?
McNair’s play with the Alcorn State Braves makes these questions relevant today. Though he was offered a full scholarship to play running back at Florida, the Lorman, Miss. native chose instead to play quarterback at the I-AA (now FCS) level with Alcorn State.
In his senior season, McNair threw for an otherworldly 5,377 yards and 47 touchdowns in just 11 games. He also rushed for nearly 1,000 yards. His outstanding play earned him the third-most Heisman votes, as he finished behind Colorado’s Rashaan Salaam and Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter.
Salaam owned a distinct advantage over McNair, namely by playing at a Division I-A (now FBS) school in a name-brand conference (the Big 12’s predecessor, the Big Eight).
The Buffaloes, who only lost to Nebraska, would go on to finish the season with an 11-1 record and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame. Salaam, for his part, rushed for 2,055 yards and 24 scores, averaging 6.9 yards per carry for the season.
The argument for the late McNair, though, is that his dominance was not respected because he played at a lower level of football. His performance proves that, no matter what a North Carolina A&T or a North Dakota State player accomplishes today, he may always be held back in the eyes of Heisman voters (though maybe not NFL scouts) because of his level of competition.