An invitation to nowhere<!-- begin pres by --> <!-- end pres by -->
By Scoop Jackson
Page 2
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<!-- end story header --><!-- begin left column --><!-- begin page tools -->Updated: December 12, 2008, 7:55 PM ET
<!-- end page tools --><!-- begin story body --><!-- template inline -->It's an invite. Nothing more. A courtesy to say we know you don't stand a chance of winning the Heisman, but … we appreciate you.
We recognize.
But why should anyone expect a player like him to get an invitation to a place like this?
No, Graham Harrell is not the kid I'm talking about. Although the Texas Tech quarterback stands as the one "most dissed" by the Heisman committee for not being selected to attend Saturday's ceremony, he's not the only player who has been straight wronged.
There's one from the wrong side of the tracks, playing the wrong position, in the wrong conference for 2008, with the wrong backstory. Just the wrong person.
It's not the tat of his grandmother's name on his neck or the fact that he publicly made the comment, "I know I shouldn't be saying this, but I really don't like school now. It's the truth." I'm sure none of that helped his cause for getting enough votes and an invitation to sit in the Nokia Theatre in NYC and not hear his name called.
"… And the final nominee in attendance, Iowa running back Shonn Greene."
All the 23-year-old from the bricks (New Jersey) did was rack up 1,729 yards in 12 games (93 yards behind the nation's leading rusher, UConn's Donald Brown, but on 60 fewer carries), average 6.2 yards per carry and become the only back in the nation to rush for at least 100 yards in every game. He did it game in, game out -- on every given Saturday. He was the most feared running back in college football.
But it doesn't garner enough attention if you don't do this at an Ohio State or a USC or a Miami or a Georgia or on a team that's 11-1, or if you do it in a conference that was as maligned as the Big Ten was this season.
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Scott Boehm/Getty Images
Greene played for a mediocre team in a weak Big Ten, but he was the best running back in the nation.
Or if you happen to be a player who came into his junior season with only 378 career yards on 69 carries.
It also doesn't help that, less than a year and a half ago, Greene flunked out of Iowa, was unloading trucks and assembling furniture for a living while taking community college classes, and spent his off time on a couch mastering PlayStation while his body "swoll" to close to 300 pounds. It doesn't help that when Greene returned from his stint at Kirkwood Community College, he opened practice as the third-string running back.
This just isn't the pedigree of someone worthy of a Heisman invite. This is not the person the Heisman committee checks for when deciding the number of players it wants to invite to the ceremony.
As for the Heisman voters, I guess the 147 yards versus Pitt or the 157 versus Michigan State or the 217 versus Wisconsin or the 159 versus Northwestern (all bowl teams) wasn't enough. The 117 and two touchdowns against Penn State -- handing the Nittany Lions their only loss -- wasn't enough.
Guess they needed to see something different. Guess they needed to see someone different. Someone not like Greene … someone who throws the ball instead of carrying it.
Now, many would say that Harrell's omission from the ceremony justifies Greene's not getting invited. But Harrell is arguably a victim of Heisman politics, as well. Texas Tech is not a big-name program.
However, how many QBs can you invite or vote for before concluding that only players at one position or who play in one or two elite conferences have a shot at winning?
Let me get my tongue away from my cheek.
All we're talking about here is an invite. Something to show a player like Shonn Greene that where he came from, what he has done on the field and all that he has done to get his life back on the right track is appreciated and recognized.
Just something to let him know, on the big stage of the Heisman Trophy presentation, that in the world of college football -- and life -- he's not invisible.
That's all an invite would have done.
Scoop Jackson is a columnist for ESPN.com.
By Scoop JacksonPage 2
(Archive | Contact)
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<!-- end story header --><!-- begin left column --><!-- begin page tools -->Updated: December 12, 2008, 7:55 PM ET
<!-- end page tools --><!-- begin story body --><!-- template inline -->It's an invite. Nothing more. A courtesy to say we know you don't stand a chance of winning the Heisman, but … we appreciate you.
We recognize.
But why should anyone expect a player like him to get an invitation to a place like this?
No, Graham Harrell is not the kid I'm talking about. Although the Texas Tech quarterback stands as the one "most dissed" by the Heisman committee for not being selected to attend Saturday's ceremony, he's not the only player who has been straight wronged.
There's one from the wrong side of the tracks, playing the wrong position, in the wrong conference for 2008, with the wrong backstory. Just the wrong person.
It's not the tat of his grandmother's name on his neck or the fact that he publicly made the comment, "I know I shouldn't be saying this, but I really don't like school now. It's the truth." I'm sure none of that helped his cause for getting enough votes and an invitation to sit in the Nokia Theatre in NYC and not hear his name called.
"… And the final nominee in attendance, Iowa running back Shonn Greene."
All the 23-year-old from the bricks (New Jersey) did was rack up 1,729 yards in 12 games (93 yards behind the nation's leading rusher, UConn's Donald Brown, but on 60 fewer carries), average 6.2 yards per carry and become the only back in the nation to rush for at least 100 yards in every game. He did it game in, game out -- on every given Saturday. He was the most feared running back in college football.
But it doesn't garner enough attention if you don't do this at an Ohio State or a USC or a Miami or a Georgia or on a team that's 11-1, or if you do it in a conference that was as maligned as the Big Ten was this season.
[+] Enlarge
Scott Boehm/Getty ImagesGreene played for a mediocre team in a weak Big Ten, but he was the best running back in the nation.
Or if you happen to be a player who came into his junior season with only 378 career yards on 69 carries.
It also doesn't help that, less than a year and a half ago, Greene flunked out of Iowa, was unloading trucks and assembling furniture for a living while taking community college classes, and spent his off time on a couch mastering PlayStation while his body "swoll" to close to 300 pounds. It doesn't help that when Greene returned from his stint at Kirkwood Community College, he opened practice as the third-string running back.
This just isn't the pedigree of someone worthy of a Heisman invite. This is not the person the Heisman committee checks for when deciding the number of players it wants to invite to the ceremony.
As for the Heisman voters, I guess the 147 yards versus Pitt or the 157 versus Michigan State or the 217 versus Wisconsin or the 159 versus Northwestern (all bowl teams) wasn't enough. The 117 and two touchdowns against Penn State -- handing the Nittany Lions their only loss -- wasn't enough.
Guess they needed to see something different. Guess they needed to see someone different. Someone not like Greene … someone who throws the ball instead of carrying it.
Now, many would say that Harrell's omission from the ceremony justifies Greene's not getting invited. But Harrell is arguably a victim of Heisman politics, as well. Texas Tech is not a big-name program.
However, how many QBs can you invite or vote for before concluding that only players at one position or who play in one or two elite conferences have a shot at winning?
Let me get my tongue away from my cheek.
All we're talking about here is an invite. Something to show a player like Shonn Greene that where he came from, what he has done on the field and all that he has done to get his life back on the right track is appreciated and recognized.
Just something to let him know, on the big stage of the Heisman Trophy presentation, that in the world of college football -- and life -- he's not invisible.
That's all an invite would have done.
Scoop Jackson is a columnist for ESPN.com.
