TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Being a beat reporter with a Heisman Trophy vote is a blessing and a curse.
The blessing was getting to watch an extraordinary football player make extraordinary plays week after week after week.
The curse was not getting to watch many other candidates perform.
It's one thing to watch a player from another team play an entire game or two, either on television or on the field opposite Alabama.
It's another thing to watch the highlights on SportsCenter. One gets a false impression seeing nothing but the spectacular plays.
But watching Alabama running back Trent Richardson live this season was like watching SportsCenter. Nearly every carry seemed to be a highlight.
And that explains this reporter's 2011 Heisman Trophy ballot:
1. Trent Richardson, running back, Alabama
2. Robert Griffin III, quarterback, Baylor
3. Tyrann Mathieu, defensive back, LSU
Richardson supposedly had his Heisman moment on Oct. 15 at Ole Miss, scoring on a dazzling 76-yard touchdown run that featured countless broken tackles and a breathtaking juke.
His career-high 203-yard rushing performance on Nov. 26 in a 42-14 victory at Auburn was capped by a 57-yard run that was stopped short of the end zone. If he had scored, he might be accepting the award Saturday night. As it is, it looks as if he will finish third. One touchdown would have jumped him from third to first?
Personally, I thought Richardson's best run was a 9-yard gain up the middle on a fourth-and-2 play at Ole Miss. He took a direct snap, was hit behind the line, was hit at the line and was hit again and again and again. The whistle finally blew, but he was still standing. Such pile-moving runs happened at least once per game, and they never ceased to amaze.
As an Alabama beat reporter casting a Heisman vote, objectivity isn't easy. Putting Richardson at the top of the ballot could make me look like a homer. But not putting him there just because I cover the team also would have seemed unfair.
Richardson's numbers don't compare to those posted by Wisconsin's Montee Ball, but the Tide star faced some rugged defenses in the Southeastern Conference, and he didn't play much in the second halves of several early games.Like the vaunted defenses of Auburn, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee?
Bottom line: I watched Mark Ingram win Alabama's first Heisman Trophy two years ago. He was good. Richardson has been better.
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was worthy of Heisman consideration, but his numbers don't compare to Griffin's.
Mathieu is the best player on the nation's best team. His takeaways and punt returns have been game-changing and electrifying. A one-game suspension near midseason was troubling. LSU had no trouble routing Auburn without the "Honey Badger," but his punt returns against Arkansas and Georgia earned my third-place vote.
Hey woodbammer...that's how you write a article on the team that you're covering. He's bias, he knows it...he doesn't fucking care. He didn't watch anyone else play, he went to the bama game, wrote an article or two about it...got hammered drunk, went home hit his wife in the face with a doorknob, kicked the dog, passed out in his bean bag naked, with cheetos all over him, while watching his DVR of the bama game. That was after a bama win. And yes, he's the majority.
Hey woodbammer...that's how you write a article on the team that you're covering. He's bias, he knows it...he doesn't fucking care. He didn't watch anyone else play, he went to the bama game, wrote an article or two about it...got hammered drunk, went home hit his wife in the face with a doorknob, kicked the dog, passed out in his bean bag naked, with cheetos all over him, while watching his DVR of the bama game. That was after a bama win. And yes, he's the majority.Keyboard Warning.
Hey woodbammer...that's how you write a article on the team that you're covering. He's bias, he knows it...he doesn't fucking care. He didn't watch anyone else play, he went to the bama game, wrote an article or two about it...got hammered drunk, went home hit his wife in the face with a doorknob, kicked the dog, passed out in his bean bag naked, with cheetos all over him, while watching his DVR of the bama game. That was after a bama win. And yes, he's the majority.
Hey woodbammer...that's how you write a article on the team that you're covering. He's bias, he knows it...he doesn't fucking care. He didn't watch anyone else play, he went to the bama game, wrote an article or two about it...got hammered drunk, went home hit his wife in the face with a doorknob, kicked the dog, passed out in his bean bag naked, with cheetos all over him, while watching his DVR of the bama game. That was after a bama win. And yes, he's the majority.
Sorry...*keyboard warning*. I just put that together while on the shitter, on the clock.
Sorry...*keyboard warning*. I just put that together while on the shitter, on the clock.Shit More..Post Less?