The 8 biggest Heisman Trophy busts from this century

Not every Heisman Trophy winner emerges from capturing the award into a great deal of success, and these are the biggest Heisman busts this century.

There’s no escaping the fact that the Heisman Trophy is the greatest individual honor that a player can earn in college football. At the same time, however, winning the award ultimately guarantees nothing. In fact, many of gone on to say that the winners of the award are cursed after they hoist the hardware. Though believing in curses may be silly to some, there is a list of players who won the award and were major busts that prove the validity of this one.

Throughout the over 80 years that the award has been handed out, the names of players that have won the Heisman Trophy and never amounted to much after in the NFL are many. Of course, as creatures of the moment, we most well remember the ones that happened most recently. Specifically, many college football fans think about the busts that were winners since 2000.

Of course, there are some Heisman winners this century that it’s too soon to ultimately call busts. While guys like Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota may not have panned out to the level many hoped when they came out of college yet, they are still young and can turn the narrative around moving forward. Meanwhile, even more, contemporary players such as Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson are way too early in their careers to make any kind of assessment.

Having said that, there are still plenty of others who, after being on top of the college football world, have come crumbling down. In truth, you could almost say that their demises have become more (in)famous than their exploits in college football.

With that in mind, we’re going to look at the biggest busts in Heisman history in the 21st century. Though there are certainly players who won’t be mentioned that failed to live up to the hype to varying degrees, these eight players define the word Heisman bust. And, starting with the first winner of the century, we go from the oldest to the most recent.

Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State (2000)

While many great running backs have passed through Florida State, the Seminoles were a high-octane passing offense with Chris Weinke at the helm from 1998-2000. In his senior season of that run, he truly went off as he led the Noles to the Orange Bowl with one loss on the year and, of course, won the Heisman Trophy for his exploits coming out of Tallahassee.

In that 2000 season, Weinke was truly phenomenal. He completed 266-of-431 passes on the year for 4,167 yards and 33 touchdowns to only 11 interceptions. When you then factor in the success that Florida State had behind his terrific play, it’s not hard to see why he was able to capture college football’s most prestigious individual award for the year.

However, Weinke’s NFL career was ultimately doomed from the jump. You see, the Florida State quarterback delayed playing college football to pursue a pro baseball career. Though he returned to the gridiron, he was 28 years old during his senior season with the Seminoles, hardly a youthful prospect for the NFL to consider. Thus, he fell to the fourth round of the draft before being selected by the Carolina Panthers.

Even with his age, Carolina gave him his shot as a rookie, but it turned out disastrously. Weinke threw for just 2,931 yards, 11 touchdowns and 19 interceptions on the season and, what’s worse, the Panthers only won a single game with Weinke as the starter.

The quarterback was in the league for just four more years after that, making only five more starts (four with Carolina, one with San Francisco). Though many could’ve seen it coming given his age, Weinke was a colossal bust after winning the award.