Young could become state's seventh winner

11:22 PM CST on Thursday, December 8, 2005

By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News

The Heisman Trophy could return to Texas this weekend when the Downtown Athletic Club of New York presents the 71st annual award.

Texas quarterback Vince Young could become the third Longhorns player to win the honor. He would be the seventh Heisman winner from a Texas school and the fourth from a Big 12 school since the league was created in 1996.

Young has amassed the statistics required of any Heisman winner. He's also put Texas in position to win the national championship. Previous Heisman winners from Texas captivated the nation's attention, just as Young did this season.

Here's a look at the previous six Heisman Trophy winners from Texas schools.

E-mail brdavis@dallasnews.com

The Downtown Athletic Club first awarded the DAC Trophy in 1935. The award's name was changed to honor John W. Heisman after his death in October 1936.

After a spectacular 1938 season, O'Brien became the first player from TCU and the Southwest Conference to win the Heisman.

At 5-7, O'Brien is one of the smallest players to win the award. According to the TCU record books, O'Brien completed 93 of 166 passes for 1,457 yards and 19 touchdowns in '38. O'Brien also rushed for 462 yards. The Horned Frogs finished 11-0 that season under coach Dutch Meyer and won the Sugar Bowl.

O'Brien died of cancer in 1977. Now, an award bearing his name is presented annually to the best college quarterback in the nation.

Many players today would consider Walker's statistics rather puny. He ran for 532 yards and passed for 304 more. But Walker, the 1948 Heisman winner, was one of college football's most entertaining stars after World War II.

Walker didn't seem too impressed with his exploits.

"I got to reading some of those things, and I couldn't believe it was me," Walker said in 1997. "I guess I was pretty damn good."

With Walker, SMU moved its games to the Cotton Bowl to accommodate the crowds. He led the Mustangs to an 8-1-1 record and a No. 10 ranking.

The Doak Walker Award was created in 1989 to honor the nation's best running back.

Walker died in his adopted home of Steamboat Springs, Colo., at 71 in September 1998.

After Crow won the 1957 Heisman Trophy, a sports writer told coach Paul "Bear" Bryant that 562 yards wasn't impressive for a Heisman winner.

"That doesn't count all the people he knocked down," Bryant said then.

Crow rushed for 1,455 yards during his A&M career from 1955 to 1957. He would play professionally until 1968. Crow was lured back to A&M when then-athletic director Jackie Sherrill hired him as an associate AD in 1983. Crow would eventually become athletic director in 1988 and remain there for more than four years.

Crow still lives in College Station, Texas, with his wife, Carolyn. Even though he's retired, Crow is still visible at A&M events. In February, Crow was given the PricewaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award, which honors former running backs for their contributions to their local communities.

Known as the Tyler Rose, Campbell is still considered one of the most powerful runners in school history. He rushed for a Southwest Conference-record 1,744 yards in 1977 en route to the school's first Heisman. Campbell finished with 4,443 yards.

Oddly, Campbell won every region of Heisman voting in '77 except his own – the Southwest, won by Oklahoma State's Terry Miller. Campbell accumulated 1,547 points to Miller's 812.

Campbell's pro career was just as thunderous as his college days. He was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Campbell, who lives in Austin with his wife, Reuna, has raised two athletic sons, Christian and Tyler.

Ware threw for an NCAA-record 4,699 yards and 46 touchdowns in 1989 as the Cougars ran up a 9-2 record and finished 14th in the national rankings.

Ware, who finished with 8,202 passing yards and 75 touchdowns, edged Indiana running back Anthony Thompson by 70 points and clinched the 55th Heisman. At the time, it was the fourth-closest voting margin in Heisman history.

Ware bounced around the NFL and even played in the Canadian Football League before retiring in 2000. Ware has since gotten into sports broadcasting. The Sugar Land, Texas, resident is now a color analyst on the Houston Texans' radio network and works ESPN college broadcasts.

After Texas floundered in 1997, it was thought that Williams would jump to the NFL. First-year coach Mack Brown was as surprised as anyone when Williams announced he was staying.

In 1998, Williams rushed for 2,124 yards and became the NCAA's all-time rusher en route to the Heisman. Williams finished with 6,279 yards rushing, a mark that was eclipsed the next season by Wisconsin's Ron Dayne (6,397).

Williams won the Heisman by 1,563 points – the fourth-biggest margin ever.

In the NFL, Williams washed out in New Orleans, found a niche in Miami, quit the team and then returned to play for new Dolphins coach Nick Saban.

Heisman Trophy presentation, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN). Finalists: Reggie Bush, USC; Matt Leinart, USC; Vince Young, Texas