We live in a sports world where numbers have replaced names as the main components of the annals of history. It is a world where memories of glory have been reduced to spreadsheets and arguments of greatness to calculator printouts. 70 -- Mark McGwire, home runs. 100 -- Wilt Chamberlain, points. 6,279.
6,279? That's right. The number of rushing yards Ricky Williams gained in his career at the University of Texas, which was ultimately crowned by last year's Heisman Trophy. The numbers game has spread quickly from professional athletics to the collegiate ranks and you might need a degree in mathematics to be eligible to vote for this year's winner.
The last time I checked though, the Downtown Athletic Club of Heisman Trophy winners was not a Hall of Fame -- an honor to be bestowed because of one's four-year contribution to NCAA football. College football has a Hall of Fame in South Bend -- we don't need a second one.
This is, therefore, a plea to every voter across the land. Regardless of whether Wisconsin's Ron Dayne runs for the requisite 321 yards necessary to break Williams' record or he runs for 821, do not select him, despite his tremendous talent.
Dayne is, indeed, great, but he is not the top dog this season. Georgia Tech quartback Joe Hamilton is.
But, before the Hamilton-Dayne dogfight, let's give some of the other pooches their due.
Purdue quarterback Drew Brees and Marshall armslinger Chad Pennington are both enormous talents that any team would love to start -- but they are not as outstanding or valuable to their teams as Hamilton who has turned Georgia Tech, out of the Top 25 in some polls in the preseason, to a legitimate Bowl Championship Series contender.
Dayne and Hamilton have distanced themselves from the rest of the field in the last three weeks with impressive performances.
The award goes yearly to the Outstanding College Football Player of the United States. Dayne is surely outstanding, but while his resume looks impressive with a potential rushing title, it is dotted with punctuation errors and spelling mistakes.
Last year, Ricky Williams reigned supreme and while he is a great back, I believe that the Heisman should be awarded to some who brings more than one dimension to a football team, like a Charles Woodson, the 1997 winner.
Like a versatile military attack, Hamilton is a lethal threat through the air and on the ground. I do not expect Dayne to throw for 5 halfback option touchdowns, but he has not caught a pass or thrown a block all season long. When Dayne was not playing well, the Badgers suffered, but they only suffered one-dimensionally.
Another important Heisman barometer is how the candidates play in the "big game." I think it is tremendous that Dayne can run 35 times for 162 yards against Purdue's 83rd best run defense in the nation. When you lose an important Big 10 game to Michigan [as Wisconsin did], you must look to your big gun. Dayne ran for just 88 yards on 22 carries. Modest.
On the other hand, Hamilton was 22-for-25 passing for 387 yards against the nation's best team, Florida State. As if that was not enough, he ran one in for a score as well.
Even when Dayne runs for over 200 yards, as he did against weakling Cincinnati, the Badgers could not manufacture a victory. Wisconsin could have been 7-2 without Dayne as they have played their best when Dayne has been on the bench. This does not even mention the fact that Wisconsin has one of the best fullbacks in the nation --Chad Kuhns -- blocking for the big fella.
Hamilton may be short in stature at 5' 10" but he has done the job week in and week out. He has rolled up over 300 yards every week in total offense. Do not be swindled and bamboozled by the gaudy numbers or the press attention the running back has attained.
Joe Hamilton is the best all-around football player in the nation. Let's make sure he gets the trophy he deserves.
