Will anyone ever join Archie Griffin as a 2-time Heisman winner?
With the Heisman Trophy presentation coming later this week, who is the only player to win this award more than one time?
Winning back-to-back championships is never easy. Neither is winning an award. In fact in the history of the Heisman Trophy, only one player has won it more than once, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin.
One of the greatest players in college football history, Griffin remains the only two-time Heisman winner.
When Griffin first arrived on campus in 1972, head coach Woody Hayes knew he had something special. So much, that he named Griffin his starting running back going into the season. The freshman showed promise, rushing for 867 yards and three touchdowns, but it was only the beginning.
After putting up his first 1,000-yard rushing season in 1973, Griffin finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting that year. The next two years changed everything.
He rushed for a career-high 1,695 yards and 12 touchdowns his junior season and won the Heisman over USC running back Anthony Davis.
Despite his touchdown total dropping to four and his yards per carry dipping from 6.6 to 5.5 his senior year, Griffin had 1,450 yards to repeat as the Heisman winner.
Along with winning the Heisman in 1974 and 1975, Griffin was named the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player in 1973 and 1974. The same years he won the Heisman, he was named United Press International Player of the Year and Walter Camp Player of the Year. In addition, he won the Maxwell Award and Sporting News named him Man of the Year after 1975.
Griffin was drafted in the first round of the 1976 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. In seven seasons, he rushed for 2,808 yards and seven touchdowns along with 1,607 receiving yards and six touchdowns. While he had great success at Ohio State, Griffin was never able to live up to his Heisman hype in the NFL.
Several players have come close to matching Griffin in the two-time winners club, but none have done it yet. Lamar Jackson, Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow (twice) and Matt Leinart are among the recent Heisman winners who were finalists.
Griffin’s status as the only two-time winner is safe this year, but if Tua Tagovailoa wins, he could have a strong chance to win it next year as a junior. The Alabama quarterback was the favorite all year, but Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray may have passed him last weekend.
At some point, it’s going to happen, and Tagovailoa could be the one to do it in 2019. But he’ll have to win on Saturday first.