Archie Griffin didn’t know what he was getting himself into the instant he laid his competition-weathered hands on a second Heisman Trophy statue that December night in 1975.
Surely another two-time recipient would follow. Give it five years, 10 at most.
And then . . . silence.
Pitt tailback Tony Dorsett picking up his hardware in 1976 touched off a run of 33 winners in as many seasons, a fraternity guilty of inviting legends-in-waiting (Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders), middle-of-the-roaders (George Rogers, Vinny Testaverde, Desmond Howard) and persons you wouldn’t recognize today if they were seated next to you on an airplane (Rashaan Salaam, Eric Crouch, Jason White).
That’s three-plus decades of Griffin on an island. Waiting. Wondering what makes him so different. The truth is that second Heisman catapulted Griffin into a gridiron icon the way the disappointing seven-year NFL experience with the Cincinnati Bengals that ensued never could.
Professional football mediocrity is what’s expected of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, so, yes, there is a link here.
As of this moment Texas quarterback Colt McCoy deserves the 2009 Heisman Trophy, though the climb will be difficult. You see, fair or unfair, America likes McCoy, but it loves Tebow. All the while it shrugs its massive shoulders when viable candidates such as Clemson tailback C.J. Spiller, Alabama’s Mark Ingram and Stanford’s Toby Gerhart are brought up.
Even so, it’s a three-horse race. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Tebow and Ingram share the same field in the SEC title game on Saturday, which is going to be a double-whammy to the star of the losing ballclub. National championship hopes . . . GONE! Heisman Trophy . . . probably gone.
The Florida-Alabama game’s final minutes are going to overlap with the start of the Big 12 title contest pitting Texas against Nebraska.
Advantage, McCoy. The Cornhuskers’ “D” is decent, but not the imposing brick wall TV’s talking heads try to make it out to be. Besides, Nebraska’s offense is inept to the point where the defense will have to be on the field no less than 60 percent of the time. McCoy should harvest a statistical windfall, which, in turn, will push Heisman voters his way.
Adding to the confusion is that the voting deadline is Dec. 7. Surely some ballots will be there even prior to the SEC and Big 12 championship games.
As for the 55-year-old Griffin, only old Arch knows how old Arch is going to vote. Don’t be surprised if it’s for Tebow for reasons beyond the statistical. More like selfish. You see, that island Griffin’s been on by himself for more than half his life got lonely a long time ago.
• Mike Beas is a freelance writer/columnist and Kokomo native who resides in Carmel. He may be reached at mbeas@att.net.
Sports
BEAS: Will Griffin remain in special company?
Ohio State star was the last two-time Heisman winner in 1976
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Kats lose heartbreaker
Kokomo’s girls basketball team executed its game plan to near perfection against host Logansport in the first game of the Class 4A Logansport Sectional Tuesday.
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Tipton races by Taylor
Over the last two seasons, Tipton’s girls basketball team has been held under 40 points in just three games.
Tuesday’s sectional opponent — Taylor — held the Blue Devils down in two of those games. Tuesday was a different story.
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It’s tourney time
In the girls basketball regular season, Tipton and Logansport compiled gaudy records and conference championships while Taylor and Kokomo finished with sub-.500 records.
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What a kick for Hoosier native Weatherford
Indianapolis — While Steve Weatherford celebrated with his teammates in the New York Giants’ locker room after the 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, thoughts inevitably turned to Terre Haute — his hometown.
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Ice baths can improve your health
Several years ago, I applied to be a participant in the weekly television show “Survivor.” Disappointingly, I was rejected.
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Wiechmann comes up big in regional
Western senior wrestler Jake Wiechmann had lost twice this season to Kokomo standout Fletcher Miller, and was trailing 3-1 to Miller in the third period of the championship of the 182-pound match at the Peru Regional Saturday when the opportunity for vengeance struck.
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Wildkat wrestlers move nine onto Ft. Wayne semistate
The Kokomo Wildkats’ bus will need just a little bit more gas than usual next weekend to haul its cargo up to Fort Wayne for Saturday’s individual wrestling semistate at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
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Visitors down at tourism office
Since moving its office location from the Kokomo Event Center to downtown Kokomo, the number of walk-in visits for tourism information has dropped 77 percent in one year.
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Kokomo guts out a win at Lebanon
It didn’t take clairvoyance to deduce that Saturday night’s showdown between Class 4A No. 6-ranked Kokomo and Class 3A No. 3-ranked Lebanon in the Tigers’ Rosenstihl Gymnasium had the makings of a close affair.
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Western beats Taylor, secures shot at outright MIC title
Something Taylor coach Andy Lewman noted about Western’s boys basketball team early on this season was how well the Panthers share the ball.
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