How many wide receivers have won the Heisman Trophy?

The Heisman Trophy will be handed out Saturday. Though none of this year’s finalists are wide receivers, wide receivers have won the Heisman before, right?

The 2017 Heisman Trophy presentation is on Saturday and ESPN will have the telecast at 8:00 p.m. ET. The three finalists are 2016 winner Louisville Cardinals junior quarterback Lamar Jackson, Stanford Cardinal running back Bryce Love and Oklahoma Sooners redshirt senior quarterback Baker Mayfield.

Once again, the Heisman will be either a running back or a quarterback. However, there have been a few collegiate players that have won the award at other positions, including wide receiver. So how many wide receivers have won the Heisman.

It turns out there have only been maybe three wide receivers to win the award. Here are the three Heisman winners that are in some capacity classified as wide receivers. Man, has it been a long time since a wideout won the Heisman or what?

Wide receivers that won the Heisman Trophy

• Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska Cornhuskers (1972)
• Tim Brown, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1987)
• Desmond Howard, Michigan Wolverines (1991)

Johnny Rodgers was the “first” wide receiver to win the Heisman. He did so back in 1972 as a senior for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. However, he did play running back as well for Nebraska. In essence, he was an all-purpose sort of superstar for the Cornhuskers. He did catch passes, so sure, we’ll count Rodgers as a wide receiver for this exercise.

The Heisman voters would have to wait 15 years before handing the trophy to the first true wide receiver in Notre Dame Fighting Irish senior wide receiver Tim Brown in 1987. Brown would go on to have a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders as at first a return specialist and then as a star wide receiver. Yes, Brown was legitimately a wide receiver that won the Heisman.

Only four years after Brown’s Heisman win did the voters decide it needed a third, or second, wide receiver in the brotherhood. That would go to Michigan Wolverines junior wide receiver/return specialist Desmond Howard. He struck the iconic pose back in 1991, which sealed the deal for him to win. Howard would return kicks in the NFL, most notably for the Green Bay Packers, a team that he won Super Bowl XXXI MVP for.

Next: 25 Heisman Trophy winners with best NFL careers

Will a wide receiver ever win the Heisman again? Well, we will have to wait until next season for that dream to possibly become a reality. Until then, here’s to dudes catching balls for big gains and touchdowns next fall in college football.