Palmer Deserves Heisman Trophy
By Andrew Kessler
Sports Columnist
More people voiced an opinion about who should win the Heisman Trophy this past weekend than went to see the new Adam Sandler movie "Eight Crazy Nights." That doesn't mean that a lot of people were debating who should be the one striking the pose in New York City this year, but the truth of the matter is that there was and continues to be much debate over who should win "the most coveted individual award" in sports. For those of you who don't know, and if you don't, you probably have about as much interest in this award as most people did in "Little Nicky," the Heisman Trophy is given annually to the best player in college football.
Most college football gurus believe that the winner will either be Ken Dorsey, a quarterback, or Willis McGahee, a running back, from the University of Miami. The 'anes are undefeated, and most likely on their way to a second straight national championship in the highly flawed non-playoff world that is NCAA Division I football. Miami has only lost once in the last three years, Dorsey's tenure as the team's quarterback. They currently have the second longest winning streak in the modern era of Division I football, and thus have not lost since early in the 2000 season. Does this mean that Dorsey is doing his job? Absolutely. Quarterbacks should be judged primarily on their win-loss records, and Dorsey has one of the best winning percentages of any quarterback in the history of the college game.
Does this mean that Dorsey is the best player in college football and worthy of winning the Heisman? Absolutely not. He plays on the best team, and he is a very good player, so they win all the time, as they should, but he is not the best player in the game. He isn't even the best quarterback around, not by a long shot. There are a handful of other quarterbacks, Brad Banks, Bryan Lefwich, Senecca Wallace, Carson Palmer, Jason Gesser, and Kliff Kingsbury, to name a few, who would most likely have won every game that Dorsey has won as a starter. In fact, I would guarantee that at least two of the players on this list would have won every game that Dorsey has won, and that at least one of them would be undefeated and not even have lost the one game that Dorsey did lose, which was over two years ago. As for McGahee, he is an excellent player, having a great year and on a phenomenal team. However, the list of running backs, headed by Larry Johnson and Chris Brown, who could do the same thing he is doing if they were on Miami's team, is even longer than the list of quarterbacks who could easily and efficiently replace Dorsey.
Miguel Tejada won American League MVP this past season, and there was much debate over it. Clearly, Alex Rodriguez was the best player in the league, but his team finished last, so how could he be the most valuable? Take him off of the Rangers and they would still be in last place, while if Tejada were taken off of the division winning A's, they wouldn't be referred to as the division winning A's anymore. However, it is more than fair to assume that if "A-Rod" were on the A's they would still have won the division. While it can be well argued either way, I believe that an MVP award must go to a player who truly helps his team win and win often. Regardless of whether a superior player would have won as much, if not more, he is the one on the better team. Tejada was the right choice for the MVP award, but he would be the wrong choice for the Heisman. The "trophy with the pose" is for the best player, not the most valuable. This difference is the reason that neither player from South Florida should be walking to the podium next Saturday night in Manhattan.
So, who should win the award this year? I must admit, I never thought I would say this given how he played before this season, but the "Golden Man Of Trojan," Carson Palmer, deserves to be striking the pose this weekend in the Big Apple. USC is a good team, but Palmer makes them a great team because he is the best player in the country, or at least he has played the best of anyone in the nation this season. One could not even begin to argue that Palmer has not lead his team to great success. USC has had its best season in years, and many "experts" believe that no team has played better in the last month and a half. They are the one team in the country, because of Palmer, that could beat Miami if given the chance. He does have a very good team around him, but hardly the army of future NFL players that surrounds Dorsey and McGahee.
If the Heisman were an MVP award it would really have to go someone on the national champions. Or at least someone playing in the title game. But it's not an MVP award, so it doesn't have to go there, and hopefully it won't. It should go to Palmer, the best player in college football this season.
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