Tebow Not Concerned with Declining Stats; Heisman Hype Doesn’t Care Either

The Heisman race, at least the one that goes on in the media, has become a joke. I don’t know how much the public perception feeds the ‘real’ voters’ opinions, but my guess is that it’s pretty significant. Just like the polls, the pre-season hype almost defines the race, season-long. And it’s just wrong.

Tebow isn’t worried about his stats, he wants wins. Well, gee, that’s great. He should care about wins. But the Heisman is supposed to go to best player. The best player will have great stats. If Tebow’s stats are trending down, he’s not playing as well (and/or, he’s playing against real competition rather than Troy and Southern Podunk U), and that means that his Heisman candidacy should suffer along with that decrease in his quality of play. But does that happen? Not really.

Pre-season, Tebow was a Heisman lock. Returning National Champs, gonna win-out, gotta win the Heisman. No matter how bad his stats get, even if he plays horribly, if the Gators somehow win the BCS, Tebow will win the Heisman. Not because it’s deserved, but because the award is a sham. It’s about the QB/RB on the best team, so long as that player doesn’t blatantly suck, or act in an extremely off-putting way. It’s no longer about the best player in the game. And Tebow is anything but off-putting. He’s a good, quality kid. And UF is winning. Heisman time!

But this year, he shouldn’t even be in the mix, let alone the leader.

At one point, one of ESPN’s analysts said that Tebow was the ‘most inspirational’ player this year. This was his reasoning for putting Tebow #1 in his weekly Heisman ballot. First, WTF does that even mean? “Most inspirational”? And at that point, the toughest game UF had played was against Kentucky. So you’re saying he’s been REALLY inspirational against Troy and Charleson Southern? And even if he was, who cares? If you’re not inspirational at all, but you put up 400 yards, does that count less somehow?

This is just one example, but it’s become clear. The Heisman is literally The Hypeman today. Figure out an angle for talking heads, and off they go.

Ingram, the stud RB from Alabama, and Jimmy have shown the production on the field, in games that mattered. This post isn’t about pushing for Jimmy to win. I think he had his shot to lock it up Saturday, and 3 incomplete passes in the end-zone later, his chances are slim to none. But assuming that the rest of the season plays out similarly to the season thus-far, Jimmy should take down the award over Tebow – even if UF wins the MNC. Same thing with Ingram. Dude has been amazing. Let’s say they drop a game and don’t make the MNC game – he’d still deserve the award over Tebow. Because individual stats matter in THIS race. Individual performance should determine the result.

But it’s not gonna happen. Not with The Hypeman.