10 best Heisman Trophy winners in history

6. O.J. Simpson, 1968

With a record-breaking rushing season and dominant victory in the voting, Simpson’s 1968 campaign was one of the best in Heisman history.

Simpson was a star running back and defensive back in high school, and originally stayed in the Bay Area to attend City College of San Francisco. After being named to the Junior College All-American Team in each of his first two seasons, powerhouse USC offered Simpson a scholarship.

The move paid off immediately, as Simpson led the nation with 1,543 rushing yards and scored 13 touchdowns. USC went 10-1 and claimed its second national championship of the John McKay era thanks to Simpson’s efforts, although he would finish just behind UCLA quarterback Gary Beban in the Heisman voting despite scoring a dramatic game-winning touchdown against the Bruins.

Next season was even better, as Simpson set a number of rushing records. The senior carried the ball a staggering 383 times for an NCAA record 1,880 yards and 23 touchdowns, as the Trojans went 9-0-1 and finished second in the AP Poll.

Simpson topped second-place finisher Leroy Keyes of Purdue, who had just 1,003 yards on the season, by 1,750 points in the 1968 Heisman voting. That margin of victory remains a record, and Simpson also became the first of three JUCO players to win the Heisman Trophy.

The Buffalo Bills picked Simpson No. 1 overall in 1969, and he became the first NFL player to top the 2,000-yard mark in a single season four years later. Following his playing career, Simpson was acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in the most highly publicized court case in American history, and is currently incarcerated for a 2007 robbery conviction in Las Vegas.