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College football: Ranking the NFL careers of Heisman Trophy winners 1975-2005

By Nick Villano

Sep 1, 2018; South Bend, IN, USA; Tim Brown the 1987 Heisman Trophy winner poses with the Heisman Trophy at the Heisman House located outside Notre Dame Stadium before the Michigan Wolverines play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 1, 2018; South Bend, IN, USA; Tim Brown the 1987 Heisman Trophy winner poses with the Heisman Trophy at the Heisman House located outside Notre Dame Stadium before the Michigan Wolverines play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kyler Murray
Kyler Murray (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious individual trophy in college football. Full stop. Nobody talks about individual trophies like they do the Heisman. They talk about MVP awards in various sports, but the name of the different trophies don’t really matter. The most popular by name are all team trophies like the Lombardi Trophy, the Stanley Cup, and the World Cup, but there’s nothing like the Heisman. (The only one worth considering is an Olympic gold medal, but this is focusing on single-year trophies.)

Every year, there is a season-long debate about who will win the Heisman Trophy, and it includes some of the best names in the history of college football. Sometimes, those players turn into some of the greatest professional football players in the history of the NFL. Some of the current NFL stars are former Heisman Trophy winners. Derrick Henry is the best running back in the league, but he was once dominating the football field for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Baker Mayfield was dominating the field for Oklahoma before he was leading the comeback of the Cleveland Browns franchise. Kyler Murray is a man to watch in Arizona.

However, it doesn’t always work out that way. In fact, it seems more often than not that Heisman winners don’t tend to become superstars in the NFL. Some become draft busts, while others are just missing something that NFL teams are looking for. Heisman Trophy winners have come in every round of the NFL Draft, and they can dominate the league or never adjust to the structure and speed of the pros.

We take a look at 30 years of Heisman Trophy winners to see how they did. Starting with the 1975-76 season, we look at the NFL careers that comes after the most prestigious award  for individuals when it comes to team sports.

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