The finalists for the 2009 Heisman Trophy Award for the best individual performer in college football are in. They are as follows:
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
Before my Heisman Trophy form guide, a word on a few players who didn't get an invite - but definitely deserved one.
Case Keenum, QB, Houston
That Keenum is not getting on a plane to New York is an absolute travesty. What I think and what I have said on numerous occasions is that the Heisman is an individual award, for individual brillance, no matter what goes on around you. At least, that is what it is supposed to be. It should not matter if your team is losing.
Besides, it's not like Keenum laid eggs in the losses Houston had. It was all down to his defense being crappy. As Bruce Willis said in The Last Boy Scout, they couldn't protect a warm cup of piss! If Keenum is still putting up the numbers, which he has done all season long at eye-popping pace, it should not matter if the Cougars are losng - IF it is truly an award for the best individual player. He wins it hands down based on that, if you ask me. The Heisman has become a National Title popularity contest.
Jordan Shipley, WR, Texas
If you ask me, they got the wrong Longhorn. Colt McCoy should give his spot at the awards to his team-mate and room-mate Jordan Shipley. After all, it's the talented Wide Receiver who has made McCoy look better than he actually has played this year. Shipley has been one of the stand-out receivers in the country consistently all season long, and puts up good, solid numbers even when the rest of the team isn't playing well. That Red River Rivalry game vs. Oklahoma is a perfect example. Plus, he's a duel threat on punt and kick returns. How he didn't get invited is beyond me!
CJ Spiller, RB, Clemson
Here's another guy entitled to feel pretty stiff. He's list up the college football world in recent weeks as Clemson made it all the way to the ACC Championship Game. Spiller is as credible and dangerous a duel threat as anyone in the country. When you string together all-purpose games of 200+ yards I happen to think that you deserve an invite to the Heisman Trophy awards. As with Case Keenum, even when his team was playing badly - against South Carolina, for one - he was still putting up big numbers. There's no rhyme or reason to this.
Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame
As with Case Keenum, his team didn't win enough - as we all know, Notre Dame finished 6-6 - and apparently that precludes you from getting an invite to NY. At least Clausen and the Irish didn't lose to UCF! I'm not much of a Notre Dame fan, but I certainly recognise JC as being one of, if not the very best, quarterbacks in the nation. His numbers back this up. Again, it's the theme of the voters apparently forgetting that where your team finishes on the year should have no bearing on your Heisman chances. If you put up the numbers, you should get an invite.
It really irks me that some of the standout players in the nation have missed out on an invite to New York City for the Heisman Trophy awards. Instead, the voters have turned this year's awards into what they always wanted it to be, a love fest for two QBs - Tebow and McCoy - who were nowhere near as good as last year. They followed the script that we all thought would play out this year, but didn't. Where are the really deserving nominees? Kicked to the kerb is where! Sheesh, it's a wonder they haven't given Sam Bradford an invite, just to round out the pre-season Heisman Holy Trinity.
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