10 biggest snubs in Heisman Trophy history
By John Buhler
9. 2011: Andrew Luck
At the time of the 2011 Heisman Trophy, there were a lot of people siding with Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III to win the award over Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck. They were outstanding signal callers in 2011 and would both go one-two in the top of the 2012 NFL Draft: Luck to the Indianapolis Colts at No. 1 and Griffin to the Washington Redskins at No. 2. Griffin would edge out Luck for the Heisman, but Luck would have the better NFL career.
What Heisman voters probably thought about when deciding between Griffin and Luck in 2011 was the more massive of a program turnaround between Baylor and Stanford. Luck had been a Heisman finalist in 2010, losing to a no-doubt winner in Auburn Tigers quarterback Cam Newton.
Many viewed Luck as the best pro-style prospect since John Elway slung the pigskin at Stanford in 1982, but he wasn’t viewed as the first piece in the turnaround at Stanford as Griffin was for Baylor.
Luck built on running back Toby Gerhart’s stellar 2009 campaign, where he finished No. 2 to Alabama Crimson Tide running back Mark Ingram for the Heisman. People also knew a lot about Luck’s head coach Jim Harbaugh from his playing days at the University of Michigan and in the NFL for the Chicago Bears and the Colts.
Before Griffin and his head coach Art Briles arrived in Waco, Baylor was an absolute dumpster fire of a football program that hadn’t done much of anything since the Grant Teaff era of the 1980s. Baylor would get to a respectable bowl and become a national power until 2015 when a campus-wide sexual assault scandal ruined the program’s reputation, costing Briles his job.
Griffin would have a great rookie year with the 2012 Redskins, but couldn’t make the necessary reads to be an effective NFL passer. It didn’t help that he had a massive ego that was exploited by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Griffin would fizzle out as an NFL starting quarterback due to ineffectiveness and health.
Luck is still carrying a loathsome burden of a football team in Indianapolis, but continues to play at a Pro Bowl level for the Colts. With all that has unfolded in the last five years, maybe the 2011 Heisman voters got that one wrong? Luck would have been a better member of the Heisman fraternity over Griffin.