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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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Tony Dorsett
Tony Dorsett (Photo by Rick Stewart/Allsport/Getty Images) /

Ranking NFL careers of Heisman winners: 2. Tony Dorsett, RB, Pittsburgh

Another Hall of Famer in both college and the NFL, Tony Dorsett had one great NFL career. He broke 1,000 yards eight times from 1977 to 1985. He was the top guy on the biggest team in the NFL, playing most of his career (outside one season) with the Dallas Cowboys. Dorsett is a Hall of Famer because of his pure impact on the game.

Dorsett broke the mold because he came to the NFL weighing less than 200 lbs, but he was able to dominate on the field. His elusiveness in the backfield made him constantly hard to tackle, which allowed him to survive his NFL career. That all started to show itself in college when he basically swept all of the awards in 1976 helping the Pitt Panthers win the National Title. He was a four-time All-American who ran for more than 1,000 yards in each of his four seasons. His 6,082 was the most career yards for a college running back (since broken by Ricky Williams).

In Dallas, Dorsett continued his run of success. Before the Cowboys brought Herschel Walker to help with carries, Dorsett was a workhorse. He was always one snap away from breaking a run 40 yards. The Cowboys would give him plenty of carries, and he constantly went above 4.3 yards per carry.

Dorsett played in two Super Bowls with the Cowboys. In 17 postseason games, he had more than 1,300 yards rushing. He added around 400 yards receiving on top of that. Dorsett was someone who would be so good in any era, and honestly he’d probably be better now than he was then.

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