Could Dixon's Trophy chances benefit from his injury?

After all, with the Oregon Ducks tanking, doesn't it prove that Dixon was extremely valuable to his team?

That's the case made by Tom Robinson (not a Trophy voter), writing in the Virginian-Pilot:

The guy who was going to win, Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon, ripped up a knee last week. He's done for the season, and the Ducks are toast in the BCS picture - which is precisely why Dixon could still win the Heisman. One has everything to do with the other.

Oregon was on its way to rolling past Arizona last Thursday when Dixon went down. Without him, the Ducks were rudderless and lost badly. Quarterbacks or running backs win the Heisman, and Dixon is the most valuable offensive player in college football. Heisman voters - I'm not one - would make a courageous statement choosing Dixon.

Writing in the Tacoma (WA) News-Tribune, Trophy voter John McGrath argues against downgrading Dixon merely because of his injury:

...On the morning of Nov. 14, most Heisman Trophy voters maintained Dixon was the best college football player in America. He gets hurt in a performance that might best be termed courageous – realizing his bum knee could completely buckle at any moment, he played anyway – and now he’s a long shot to be among the five finalists invited to New York City for the trophy ceremony?

That’s wrong. I’m not sure where I’ll include Dixon on my ballot, but I’ve got three names, and he’s one of them.

Writing in Dixon's home state newspaper, the Oregonian, columnist John Canzano makes the same case:

I've wrote it before, but I'll do it again... there isn't a greater indicator that Dennis Dixon is the nation's best college football player than the trainwreck that was on display at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. ...

If you have a Heisman vote, and a conscience, I don't know how you don't consider giving Dixon a vote in the top three. That he missed his team's final two games is a shame, but also, it's doing more to help us understand what he meant to his team, and how damned good he was playing in that offense.

Dixon's team was a national title contender with him... and is inept, and lost, without him.

Kari Chisholm | November 27, 2007 | Comment on This Post (2 so far) Permalink: Could Dixon's Trophy chances benefit from his injury?

Comments

"I've wrote it before..." and you are a professional writer? I could not get past your first sentence. "I've written it before" is the correct tense for this sentence, therefore I must disregard anything else you wrote afterwards. Sorry to go "grammer police" on you but you make a living doing this and should be held to a somewhat higher standard than the rest of us.

Posted by: Mark P | Nov 28, 2007 9:09:28 PM

"The Heisman Trophy

A Brief History of the Heisman Trophy
The idea of an award to the most outstanding college football player was originally conceived by members of the Downtown Athletic Club, formerly located in the southern end of Manhattan."

That statement is a copy/paste from the official website of the Heisman trophy...Heisman.com. No where in this description of the award do I see "Most VALUABLE Player to their team." I see most OUTSTANDING college football player. The idea that because Oregon is rudderless and hopelessly lost means that Dixon should win the Heisman is utterly asinine. Dixon may have been, I repeat - may have been, the most outstanding player before his injury, but since then, he has been sitting on the bench. His regular season was over with that injury, so he would no longer be the most OUTSTANDING player in the country.

But let's assume that the argument is valid. The award is for the most VALUABLE player to their team. The most VALUABLE player in my estimation is the same answer: Tebow. He accounts for 75% of the Gators offense, has more touchdowns this season, and more total offense. For cryin' out loud he's scored more touchdowns in a season that anybody in the History of the NCAA.

Hands down this year's Heisman should go to Tim Tebow. He has done things nobody has done before, and he has done them week in and week out.

Anyone who states that they don't know how they will/would vote is lying. You know exactly where you would put each player on the ballot. Don't lie to yourself, don't lie to those of us who read the tripe that you print each day/week/month, and for heaven's sake BRUSH UP ON YOUR GRAMMAR!!!!! My stars, how can you start an article with that crap and call yourself a professional writer.

Go Gators!
Tebow = HE15MAN!

Posted by: rICK | Dec 2, 2007 6:40:07 PM

The H------ Memorial Trophy is a registered trademark of the H------ Memorial Trophy Trust. This site is not affiliated with the Trust, not even a little. We're not even using the H------ word, since they don't want us to. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright to and responsibility for all posts and comments are owned by their respective authors.

Obviously, the posts and comments here are the views of their authors, and not of anyone else.

While we're strong believers in free speech, we reserve the right to delete comment spam or other offensive material. Our contributors, however, reserve the right to embarass themselves in public.