I don't care about the Heisman. I know that I'm not supposed to say that, but it's really how I feel. I've always felt that it's a popularity contest with the criteria being amongst the voters: the award should go to the best player on the best team, not the best player in the country.
Tuesday night Graham Harrell was not invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony and as Skin Patrol noted, this entire series of events may be a blessing in disguise as Graham Harrell demonstrated that he's got more clsss and presence in his broken pinky finger than any voters:
"I thought I would be, but that’s the way it goes,’’ Harrell said. "I didn’t really think too much about it (beforehand). I would have been fine being there. I’ll be fine not being there. It would have been a huge honor to be there. To be mentioned and considered to possibly be a finalist is a great honor as well. We’ve had a great season. I don’t think it takes anything away from it.’’
The Captain was not as kind:
"If Graham is not invited to the Heisman, they ought to quit giving out the award,’’ Leach said in a statement released by Tech. "It is a shameless example of politics ruling over performance. The other guys are deserving, but he has earned a place alongside them."
Last night, my anger was with the Downtown Athletic Club, but then after sleeping on it, Harrell's fate was sealed by the voters.
One of the reasons some voters are voting for Colt McCoy is because did more with less talent.
If that argument is true, then shouldn't Harrell win hands down?
I find that hard to believe that Texas Tech has more talent than Florida, Oklahoma and Texas. Yep, Texas Tech has Michael Crabtree, one of the best that has ever played the game, but Harrell certainly shouldn't be penalized for being his teammate, especially in a year when Harrell spread the ball around more to his other receivers and had a running game to bring down the attempts from last year.
Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill also backed his quarterback:
"I think it’s disgraceful not inviting the best quarterback in the country, bar none, to the Heisman,’’ Tech assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. "He’s one of the leading quarterbacks in the history of the game. He’s won more games and done more at Texas Tech than any quarterback in the country could have. He’s the epitome of what you want, not only a great signal caller but a great student academically.’’
All true Ruffin.
The three writers for the Dallas Morning News, Tim Cowlishaw, Kevin Sherrington and Brian Davis, each have a vote, revealed their ballots and I believe that this is symptomatic of the problem. Only one out of the three voted for Harrell and that was a third place vote from Davis.
That's probably how the votes broke down overall and the Downtown Athletic Club knew that Harrell had received only a handful of votes.
After this snub I'm more jaded than about the entire process and college football in general than I've ever been.
A real conversation with my wife this morning, who knows absolutely nothing or cares about college football (really . . . she has no idea, although I'm sure that some of my opinions have influenced her, a bit):
Me: I'm probably going to be running a little late this morning because Graham Harrell wasn't asked to go to the Heisman ceremony?Wife: What? That's a bunch of bullsh!t. Who did get invited? Oklahoma, Texas and some other big school?
Me: Yeah. Florida was the other school.
Wife: That's a slap in the face. If I was Harrell I'd be pissed.
Me: Harrell's handled it with class so far.
Wife: I don't care, if I were him I'd be pissed.
Me: Yeah.
Screw 'em.
They can have their awards, I could care less at this point.
All I care about any more is what happens between the lines on the field and right now, we've got coaches and a team that does more with less talent than anywhere in America and I'm pretty damned proud of that.
Wreck 'Em.