The Buzz: Heisman news and views
College basketball crowns its champ and baseball’s opening day is upon us, but the Heisman is still making news. Here’s a compilation of the latest updates from around the media world so you can stay up to date on what’s happening.
The Buzz…
Ohio State will have a very special speaker at its 2015 commencement ceremony. Two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin will address Buckeye graduates next month, one of whom will be his son, Adam. Griffin rushed for 5,589 yards at Ohio State from 1972-1975, winning the Heisman his last two seasons. He graduated from OSU in 1976 with a degree in industrial relations.
“Our graduates will get a chance to hear from the ultimate Buckeye and a man whose hard work, generous spirit and philosophy of ‘paying forward’ has brought so much credit to this university,” OSU President Michael V. Drake said in a news release. “The fact that his son, Adam, will be one of our graduates makes May 10th even more special for the entire Griffin family.”
More Archie: Check out this Q & A he had recently with the Omaha World-Herald. He had this to say about Michigan’s hiring of Jim Harbaugh:
“My first reaction is: Great. Because Jim is one heck of a competitor, and I know that the rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan is going to even get a little more intense because of the competitor that he is and the competitor that Urban (Meyer) is.”
1972 Heisman winner Johnny Rodgers also chatted with the World-Herald. Listen to it here.
The NFL draft is coming up at the end of the month and the two Heisman winners available for selection are blazing new ground. Both Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston have decided not to be physically present for the league’s draftheld in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. Mariota will stay home in Hawaii while Winston will watch the draft from Alabama, nearby his grandmother, who is unable to travel. According to NBCSports.com, the last time a Heisman Trophy winner was not on hand for the NFL Draft was the 2007 NFL Draft when Ohio State’s Troy Smith ended up being drafted in the fifth round. Both Mariota and Winston are expected to be taken in round one.
Not that the two aren’t ready for the NFL. Both have made the rounds with various teams and both have completed their pro days. Here’s a breakdown of Winston’s recent workout for NFL scouts:
Mariota is busy with other things, too. He recently inked a trading card and autograph deal. Oh, and a popular bar in Eugene is changing its name…to Marcus’s.
Bo may know football and baseball (among other things), but the younger generation doesn’t seem to know Bo Jackson. The 1985 Heisman trophy winner out of Auburn, who was also a star with baseball’s Kansas City Royals, was at spring training with the White Sox when he met Adam LaRoche’s 13-year-old son Drake. The youngster had no concept of who Bo was, so Bo patiently went over his remarkable resume:
Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman winner out of Oklahoma, is on his way to the Philadelphia Eagles. The former No. 1 pick in the draft is hoping to jump start his career after battling injuries in St. Louis. His former quarterbacks coach, current Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson, thinks Bradford is going to do well for the Eagles.
“There’s a competitive spirit to everything he does,” Wilson said of Bradford. “I was intrigued like everyone else with the move, but knowing Chip and knowing Sam, I think it’s a great fit. look forward to seeing what he does. I think he’s going to be a heck of a player for them.
1990 Heisman winner Ty Detmer is being inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
2007 winner Tim Tebow will be the keynote speaker at the second-annual “Evening of Hope,” a Salvation Army of Manatee County (Fla) fundraiser to benefit the county’s homeless population, on May 15.
Maj. Dwayne Durham, the organization’s regional coordinator, said Tebow’s faith and mission trips he has made as part of his family’s evangelical organization make him an ideal celebrity to draw a crowd and promote the Salvation Army’s cause.
“He shares in that passion and that mission,” Durham said. “This event is about raising awareness and having Tim Tebow be able to come and speak to that energizes people.”
Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2015/04/04/5728383/salvation-army-features-tim-tebow.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2015/04/04/5728383/salvation-army-features-tim-tebow.html#storylink=cp< Obscure stat of the day: The last time a school won a college basketball national championship the spring after placing a player in the top five of the Heisman vote was 1968, when UCLA won the national title following Gary Beban's capture of the 1967 award. Wisconsin has a chance to do so tonight, as Melvin Gordon was the Heisman runner up last fall and the Badgers have a shot at a title against Duke. Gordon will be on hand in Indianapolis if it happens.
As we recently wrote, there seems to be a Heisman for everything, including debating.
“It’s the equivalent of winning the Heisman Trophy,” said Paul Bellus, who has been forensics coordinator for UI’s A. Craig Baird Debate Forum since 1997.
Finally, we’re sorry to bring up politics, but it’s always fun to see a Heisman reference in the political world.
