For the first time in his career, Charles Woodson’s legs betrayed him.
With the words “1997 Heisman Trophy winner” and “Charles Woodson” still hanging in the air of a stunned ballroom at the Downtown Athletic Club, Woodson rose and took a step toward the coveted tro2phy.
Then he went to one knee, as if he were downing a kickoff.
“My body just went limp,” Woodson said. “I couldn’t grasp what happened.”
He wasn’t alone. To his left, alleged Heisman favorite Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning sat with a stunned expression.
In the tradition-bound world of college football, it was as if the Berlin Wall had come tumbling down. For its first 62 years, the most prestigious individual award in the sport had never gone to a full-time defender.
Of course, it’s inaccurate to call Woodson a defender. True, the 21-year-old junior from Fremont, Ohio, starts at cornerback for the top-ranked Wolverines, and he is the foundation of the stingiest defense in the country. But he also is a big-play receiver and a dangerous punt returner.
“If I had only played defense, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Woodson said.
Nor would he be here if it hadn’t been for his mother, Georgia, who wept as her son addressed a national cable-television audience. “Early on, we realized that Charles was going to be something special,” she said.
Woodson becomes Michigan’s third Heisman winner, following Tom Harmon (1940) and Desmond Howard (1991). He’s only the 13th junior to win the Heisman.
In the end, the vote wasn’t even that close. Woodson drew 272 more points than Manning; players receive three points for every first-place vote, two for a second-place vote and one for a third.
Woodson finished first in five of the Heisman’s six voting regions. He trailed Manning only in the South, a region that traditionally votes in a bloc for its own. But regional bias wasn’t enough to carry Manning, a product of New Orleans.
According to Deloitte and Touche, the Heisman’s accounting firm, Manning owned a sizable lead over Woodson in ballots received in the first week of voting. But Woodson surged ahead in the second week, which happened to be the week he led the Wolverines past then-No. 4 Ohio State.
With a national audience watching, Woodson showcased his versatility by intercepting a pass in the end zone, setting up a touchdown with a long reception and returning a punt 78 yards for a score. That performance dwarfed Manning’s 500-yard passing day against a weak Kentucky team the same afternoon.
“After the Ohio State game, that’s when I started thinking I might have a chance,” Woodson said.
Indeed, Woodson’s share of the vote grew in each of the last three weeks, while Manning’s flattened.
It was as if the idea that a defensive player could win had begun to catch on with the Heisman’s 921 electors–870 media members and 51 former winners.
“This year, the guy who really deserved it won it,” former Michigan tailback Tyrone Wheatley said.
But it’s hard to argue that Manning didn’t deserve it. In any other year, the Volunteers’ hero might have been a runaway winner. Manning, who finished his career with 11,201 passing yards, the third-most in NCAA history, was seen as the front-runner from the moment he made the stunning announcement that he would return for his senior season in Knoxville.
“I’m disappointed,” said Manning, whose father, Archie, finished third behind Stanford’s Jim Plunkett and Notre Dame’s Joe Theismann 27 years ago. “I’d be less than honest if I said I didn’t want to win this award for the people of Tennessee. They wanted it so badly. I apologize to them.”
Still, the announcement lifted a weight from Manning’s broad shoulders and left him free to concentrate on leading third-ranked Tennessee against No. 2 Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. That game will decide the national title if Michigan stumbles against Washington State in the Rose Bowl.
“Really, a day never went by without me being asked about the Heisman Trophy,” Manning said. “Hopefully, those questions will stop now.”
Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer had said recently it would be a “travesty” if anyone other than Manning won the award. That seemed to be a minority opinion Saturday night.
“Not to take anything away from Peyton Manning, but Woodson really showed what he was made of,” said Marshall wideout Randy Moss, who finished a distant fourth in the voting. “He made big plays when it mattered. I call him a true ballplayer.”
Call him a trailblazer too. An hour after the announcement, Woodson still seemed a bit in awe. But as the flashbulbs popped he did something no defender has ever done. He grabbed the little bronze stiff-armer and wouldn’t let go.
