Notes on the Heisman finalists

The three finalists for the 2015 Heisman Trophy are set. They’ll be heading to New York on Friday to take part in all the festivities surrounding the announcement of the 81st annual award.

Here are a few items of note about Heisman finalist lore for all you trophy aficionados out there:

• There have been 144 players invited to New York as Heisman finalists since the practice was first instituted in 1982.

• The first Heisman finalists were Herschel Walker, John Elway and Eric Dickerson.

• There have been three finalists invited 10 times, four finalists 10 times, five finalists 11 times, six finalists twice and eight finalists once (in 1989). No more than six finalists (in 1994 and 2013) have ever attended the ceremony.

• This is the third time in four years that only three finalists were invited to New York.

• Derrick Henry is Alabama’s seventh Heisman finalist (fifth in last seven years) and 21st top 10 finisher. The finalists were David Palmer (3rd in ’93), Jay Barker (5th in 1994), Mark Ingram (1st in ’09), Trent Richardson (3rd in ’11), A.J. McCarron (2nd in ’13) and Amari Cooper (3rd in ’15). The other top 10 finishers were Harry Gilmer (5th in both 1945 and 1947), Pat Trammel (5th in 1961), Lee Roy Jordan (4th in 1962), Steve Sloan (10th in 1965), Johnny Musso (4th in 1971), Terry Davis (5th in 1972), Stedman Shealy (10th in 1979), Walter Lewis (9th in 1983), Cornelius Bennett (7th in 1986), Bobby Humphrey (10th in 1987), Derrick Thomas (10th in 1988), Eric Curry (10th in 1992) and Shaun Alexander (7th in 1999).

• Christian McCaffrey is Stanford’s fifth Heisman finalist (fourth in seven years), joining John Elway (2nd in ’82), Toby Gerhart (2nd in ’09) and Andrew Luck (2nd in ’10 and ’11). He is the school’s 16th top 10 finisher, joining Frankie Albert (4th in ’40 and 3rd in ’41), Bill McColl (4th in ’51), Bob Garrett (5th in ’53), John Brodie (7th in ’56), Jim Plunkett (8th in ’69 and 1st in ’70), Guy Benjamin (6th in ’77), Darrin Nelson (6th in ’81), Elway (2nd in ’82), Glyn Milburn (9th in ’92), Gerhart (2nd in ’09), Owen Marecic (10th in 2010) and Luck (2nd in ’10 and ’11)

• Deshaun Watson is Clemson’s first Heisman finalist and 3rd top 10 finisher, joining Steve Fuller (tied for 6th in ’78) and C.J. Spiller (6th in ’09).

The complete list of Heisman finalists:

1982
Herschel Walker, Georgia
John Elway, Stanford*
Eric Dickerson, SMU1983
Mike Rozier, Nebraska
Steve Young, BYU
Doug Flutie, Boston College

1984
Doug Flutie, Boston College
Keith Byars, Ohio State
Robbie Bosco, BYU*
Bernie Kosar, Miami (Fla)

1985
Bo Jackson, Auburn
Chuck Long, Iowa
Robbie Bosco, BYU*
Lorenzo White, Michigan State
Vinny Testaverde, Miami (Fla)

1986
Vinny Testaverde, Miami (Fla)
Paul Palmer, Temple
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan*
Brian Bosworth, Oklahoma
D.J. Dozier, Penn State*

1987
Tim Brown, Notre Dame
Don McPherson, Syracuse
Gordon Lockbaum, Holy Cross
Lorenzo White, Michigan State
Craig Heyward, Pittsburgh

1988
Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State*
Rodney Peete, USC
Troy Aikman, UCLA
Steve Walsh, Miami (Fla)*
Major Harris, West Virginia

1989
Andrew Ware, Houston*
Anthony Thompson, Indiana
Major Harris, West Virginia
Tony Rice, Notre Dame
Darian Hagan, Colorado
Dee Dowis, Air Force*
Emmitt Smith, Florida*
Blair Thomas, Penn State*

1990
Ty Detmer, BYU*
Raghib Ismail, Notre Dame
Eric Bieniemy, Colorado
Shawn Moore, Virginia
David Klingler, Houston

1991
Desmond Howard, Michigan
Casey Weldon, Florida State
Ty Detmer, BYU
Steve Emtman, Washington

1992
Gino Torretta, Miami (Fla)
Marshall Faulk, San Diego State
Garrison Hearst, Georgia

1993
Charlie Ward, Florida State
Heath Shuler, Tennessee
David Palmer, Alabama

1994
Rashaan Salaam, Colorado
Ki-Jana Carter, Penn State
Steve McNair, Alcorn State
Kerry Collins, Penn State
Jay Barker, Alabama
Warren Sapp, Miami (Fla)

1995
Eddie George, Ohio State
Tommie Frazier, Nebraska
Danny Wuerffel, Florida
Darnell Autry, Northwestern
Troy Davis, Iowa State

1996
Danny Wuerffel, Florida
Troy Davis, Iowa State
Jake Plummer, Arizona State
Orlando Pace, Ohio State

1997
Charles Woodson, Michigan
Peyton Manning, Tennessee
Ryan Leaf, Washington State
Randy Moss, Marshall

1998
Ricky Williams, Texas
Michael Bishop, Kansas State
Cade McNown, UCLA
Tim Couch, Kentucky

1999
Ron Dayne, Wisconsin
Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech
Michael Vick, Virginia Tech
Drew Brees, Purdue
Chad Pennington, Marshall

2000
Chris Weinke, Florida State
Josh Heupel, Oklahoma
Drew Brees, Purdue
LaDainian Tomlinson, TCU

2001
Eric Crouch, Nebraska
Rex Grossman, Florida
Ken Dorsey, Miami (Fla)
Joey Harrington, Oregon

2002
Carson Palmer, USC
Brad Banks, Iowa
Larry Johnson, Penn State
Willis McGahee, Miami (Fla)
Ken Dorsey, Miami (Fla)

2003
Jason White, Oklahoma
Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh
Eli Manning, Mississippi
Chris Perry, Michigan

2004
Matt Leinart, USC
Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma
Jason White, Oklahoma
Alex Smith, Utah
Reggie Bush, USC

2005
Vince Young, Texas
Matt Leinart, USC

2006
Troy Smith, Ohio State
Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Brady Quinn, Notre Dame

2007
Tim Tebow, Florida
Darren McFadden, Arkansas
Colt Brennan, Hawaii
Chase Daniel, Missouri

2008
Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
Colt McCoy, Texas
Tim Tebow, Florida

2009
Mark Ingram, Alabama
Toby Gerhart, Stanford
Colt McCoy, Texas
Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska
Tim Tebow, Florida

2010
Cam Newton, Auburn
Andrew Luck, Stanford
LaMichael James, Oregon
Kellen Moore, Boise State

2011
Robert Griffin III
Andrew Luck, Stanford
Trent Richardson, Alabama
Montee Ball, Wisconsin
Tyrann Mathieu, LSU

2012
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
Manti Te’o, Notre Dame
Collin Klein, Kansas State

2013
Jameis Winston, Florida State
AJ McCarron, Alabama
Jordan Lynch, Northern Illinois
Andre Williams, Boston College
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
Tre Mason, Auburn

2014
Marcus Mariota, Oregon
Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
Amari Cooper, Alabama

2015
Derrick Henry, Alabama
Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
Deshaun Watson, Clemson

* – invited but did not attend ceremony.