'2010 Heisman Trophy Presentation' on ESPN: A Review

Normally I don't watch college football or keep up with it like I do with the NFL. The same goes with watching ESPN, except when they have the ESPYS or a sports film I'm interested in. However, I saw they were airing the 2010 Heisman Trophy Presentation "live" from New York City. Now this truly interested me. It opened with an impressive array of past winners of this prestigious college football award with some players giving their acceptance speeches or seeing them in action on the field.

We were then introduced to the four finalists of 2010. We learned more about them through the course of the one-hour show. Just like all those other reality TV competition shows we learned who the Heisman Trophy winner was in the last five minutes of the presentation. Let's get a little bit of background on the award itself. Also, one past Heisman Trophy winner in the early '70s made such an impression they made a TV movie out of it. Finally, we learn something about the finalist and who won.

History of the Heisman Trophy Award

The most prestigious award in college football was established in 1935 by John Heisman. He was the first Athletic Director of the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City. Prior to that, John Heisman had been a college football coach who revolutionized the way football was played in those very early days. Heisman settled in New York City to commit more to writing. It is in New York City where the Heisman Trophy presentation is made every year.

John Cappelletti's Memorable Heisman Trophy Presentation

In 1973 a senior running back from Penn State named John Cappelletti gave one of the most touching and truly memorable acceptance speeches of any award ceremony, much less the Heisman Trophy. While making his speech he broke down emotionally and dedicated his win to his younger brother, Joey. His brother had leukemia and was going through extremely painful chemotherapy treatments. John Cappelletti felt his brother Joey deserved the award more than he did for his courage. A few years later there was a TV movie made about John and Joey Cappelletti and this unforgettable speech.

The Four Finalists for 2010

Much of the presentation was spent on learning about the four finalists. Three were from colleges on the west coast and one from the south. The finalists were: Andrew Luck (Stanford), Kellen Moore (Boise State), LaMichael James (Oregon) and Cam Newton (Auburn). Oddly enough, there was not a senior amongst the finalists. It was also interesting to see past winners of the Heisman Trophy show up in the audience or be interviewed within the telecast.

They had the 50^th annual and 25^th annual recipients in attendance. Those were Joe Bellino (Army) from one of the military academies in 1960 and Bo Jackson of Auburn from 1985. One thing that was mentioned about a past winner of the Heisman Trophy, who had received the most votes ever in the history of the award, was none other than OJ Simpson. The second player to receive the most votes was, ironically enough, Reggie Bush. He was embroiled in controversy recently and has to return his Heisman Trophy.

And the Winner of the 76^th Annual Heisman Trophy is...

Even though I had no idea about the candidates for the Heisman Trophy this year as in years past, because those were from Florida, it was somewhat obvious who was heavily favored to win. The winner, not too surprising after all, was Cam Newton of Auburn. There were three quarterbacks in the running. The other two are cerebral and analytical in their methods, whereas Cam Newton is purely athletic in every sense of the word. He gave a very heartfelt speech. Some Heisman Trophy winners excel in the NFL and others do not, while there are some who do not go into professional football. Cam Newton has another year at Auburn. Right now he can cherish his Heisman Trophy.

SOURCES:

ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Sports, ESPN

Heisman Trophy, Heisman