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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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Ty Detmer
Ty Detmer (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images) /

Ranking NFL careers of Heisman winners: 21. Ty Detmer, QB, BYU

Ty Detmer had such a ridiculous rise to the top that it made heads spin. He took over starter duties for BYU, and he immediately became one of the best players in the nation. In that first season, he threw for 4,500 yards and 32 touchdowns. For anyone claiming he only did it against WAC competition, he ended up passing for a bowl record 576 yards against Penn State in the Holiday Bowl.

Detmer’s junior season is considered one of the best in the history of college football. He dominated everyone up until the last two games of the season. That is where disaster struck. Detmer suffered a double shoulder injury in the Holiday Bowl against Texas A&M. His next season started off terribly as he was recovering from injury, but he finished the season scorchin hot and found himself with 59 NCAA records at the end of his career.

Once again, height got in the way of a great quarterback in the pros. He wasn’t taken until the ninth round of the draft. He would have gone undrafted if that was today. It’s hard for a ninth-round pick to do much of anything in the NFL, but Detmer survived in the league for more than a decade. He was playing in games all the way to 2003.

He started his career as Brett Favre’s backup, so he wasn’t getting much time there. He ended up playing for six different franchises while mostly serving backup duties. Detmer played behind some big names including Favre, Steve Young, Michael Vick, and he was even traded for so he could mentor Tim Couch. It was an interesting career, but it was one that could have been better if Detmer was just two inches taller.

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