College football: Ranking every Heisman Trophy winner
By Brad Weiss
80. Ranking every Heisman Trophy Winner: John David Crow, Texas A&M Aggies football
Looking back at the collegiate career of John David Crow, and it is simple to see that he is one of the greatest Texas A&M football players of all-time. Crow arrived on campus to play for legendary head coach Bear Bryant, and by the time he was done with the Aggies, Bryant would call him the greatest football player he ever coached.
After starring for the first two years of his varsity career, Crow went into his senior season ready to take his game to another level. Leading Texas A&M to a 9-0 start to the season, the versatile player was able to do it all for the Aggies, leading them on both sides of the ball, and playing so well that Bryant stated that if “Crow did not win the Heisman, they should do away with the award.”
Crow would end up winning the Heisman Trophy despite missing three games due to injury, finishing the year with over 560 yards rushing, five touchdown passes, and five interceptions on the defensive side of the ball. The only player to play for Bryant and win a Heisman, Crow was a tough and physical player for the Aggies and would end up being the No. 2 overall pick in the 1958 NFL Draft.
79. Ranking every Heisman Trophy Winner: Eric Crouch, Nebraska Cornhuskers football
When it came to running the option, Nebraska star Eric Crouch was one of the best to ever do it in recent memory, and he used both to become one of the more decorated players in Nebraska history. A true master of the art, Crouch was able to put up ridiculous numbers with both his arm, and his legs, and capping off an incredible collegiate career by being named the winner of the 2001 Heisman Trophy.
Breaking Tommy Frazier’s school record as the all-time total offense leader, Crouch became the all-time leader in rushing yards for a quarterback in the Big 12, and in his Heisman season, he threw for over 1,500 yards and rushed for over 1,100 more. His Heisman win was the closest ballot since 1985, and he would also take home Big 12 Player of the Year honors, the Davey O’Brien Award, and the Walter Camp that season.
Crouch won the award despite many feeling that Rex Grossman was more deserving or even Ken Dorsey from the University of Miami (FL). Still, he left the storied Nebraska program holding 32 school records and was such a good athlete that the St. Louis Rams made him a third-round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft to play wide receiver.
78. Ranking every Heisman Trophy Winner: Pat Sullivan, Auburn Tigers football
The Auburn Tigers have had some incredible football players walk through the doors over the years, as the program has brought home numerous Heisman Trophies. However, there is only one player who can stake claim to being the first member of the Auburn program to win the award, and that player is one of the best quarterbacks in school history, Pat Sullivan.
A dominant player during his time with the Tigers, Sullivan became a legend at the school and is one of three players in school history to have his jersey number retired. One of the other players is Bo Jackson, who we will get to later in this piece, and the other is his most reliable option, Terry Beasley, a tandem that made the phrase “Sullivan to Beasley” a common theme during Tigers games.
In his Heisman winning season of 1971, Sullivan led his Tigers to a 9-0 start, including a 248-yard and four-touchdown effort against the University of Georgia, a win that cemented him as the Heisman favorite. Some believe that Cornell’s Ed Marinaro should have won the award, but Sullivan took home the honor, and left Auburn with numerous school and SEC records, while also setting some national records along the way.