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The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious award handed out in college football. It signals the best player in the sport each season, regardless of position group. The 2024 race for the Heisman was unlike anything we've seen before. Travis Hunter, the receiver/cornerback for Colorado, won the award because he was the first true two-way star in well over a half-century. Hunter's competition for the Heisman was Boise State's Ashton Jeanty. The running back put up jaw-dropping numbers, but the fact that he plays for a mid-major program probably hurt him in the end.
Neither Hunter nor Jeanty are quarterbacks, which is the position that has won the Heisman with regularity over the last 30-plus years. It wasn't always like that, though. As the sport of football has changed over the years, so has Heisman voting. After all, the first Heisman was named back in 1935. Below is every Heisman Trophy winner ever, along with how many winners there have been by team and position.
Heisman Trophy winners by year
1935: Jay Berwanger, Chicago, HB, Senior
1936: Larry Kelley, Yale, End, Senior
1937: Clint Frank, Yale, HB, Senior
1938: Davey O'Brien, TCU, QB, Senior
1939: Nile Kinnick, Iowa, HB/QB, Senior
1940: Tom Harmon, Michigan, HB, Senior
1941: Bruce Smith, Minnesota, HB, Senior
1942: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia, HB, Senior
1943: Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame, QB, Senior
1944: Les Horvath, Ohio State, HB/QB, Senior
1945: Doc Blanchard, Army, FB, Junior
1946: Glenn Davis, Army, HB, Senior
1947: Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame, QB, Senior
1948: Doak Walker, SMU, HB, Junior
1949: Leon Hart, Notre Dame, End, Senior
1950: Vic Janowicz, Ohio State, HB/P, Junior
1951: Dick Kazmaier, Princeton, HB, Senior
1952: Billy Vessels, Oklahoma, HB, Senior
1953: Johnny Lattner, Notre Dame, HB, Senior
1954: Alan Ameche, Wisconsin, FB, Senior
1955: Howard Cassady, Ohio State, HB, Senior
1956: Paul Hornung, Notre Dame, QB, Senior
1957: John David Crow, Texas A&M, HB, Senior
1958: Pete Dawkins, Army, HB, Senior
1959: Billy Cannon, LSU, HB, Senior
1960: Joe Bellino, Navy, HB, Senior
1961: Ernie Davis, Syracuse, HB/FB/LB, Senior
1962: Terry Baker, Oregon State, QB, Senior
1963: Roger Staubach, Navy, QB, Junior
1964: John Huarte, Notre Dame, QB, Senior
1965: Mike Garrett, USC, HB, Senior
1966: Steve Spurrier, Florida, QB, Senior
1967: Gary Beban, UCLA, QB, Senior
1968: O.J. Simpson, USC, HB, Senior
1969: Steve Owens, Oklahoma, FB, Senior
1970: Jim Plunkett, Stanford, QB, Senior
1971: Pat Sullivan, Auburn, QB, Senior
1972: Johnny Rogers, Nebraska, WR/RB, Senior
1973: John Cappelletti, Penn State, RB, Senior
1974: Archie Griffin, Ohio State, RB, Junior
1975: Archie Griffin (2), Ohio State, RB, Senior
1976: Tony Dorsett, Pitt, RB, Senior
1977: Earl Campbell, Texas, RB, Senior
1978: Billy Sims, Oklahoma, RB, Junior
1979: Charles White, USC, RB, Senior
1980: George Rogers, South Carolina, RB, Senior
1981: Marcus Allen, USC, RB, Senior
1982: Herschel Walker, Georgia, RB, Junior
1983: Mike Rozier, Nebraska, RB, Senior
1984: Doug Flutie, Boston College, QB, Senior
1985: Bo Jackson, Auburn, RB, Senior
1986: Vinny Testaverde, Miami, QB, Senior
1987: Tim Brown, Notre Dame, WR, Senior
1988: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, RB, Junior
1989: Andre Ware, Houston, QB, Junior
1990: Ty Detmer, BYU, QB, Junior
1991: Desmond Howard, Michigan, WR/PR, Junior
1992: Gino Torretta, Miami, QB, Senior
1993: Charlie Ward, Florida State, QB, Senior
1994: Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, RB, Junior
1995: Eddie George, Ohio State, RB, Senior
1996: Danny Wuerffel, Florida, QB, Senior
1997: Charles Woodson, Michigan, CB, Junior
1998: Ricky Williams, Texas, RB, Senior
1999: Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, RB, Senior
2000: Chris Weinke, Florida State, QB, Senior
2001: Eric Crouch, Nebraska QB, Senior
2002: Carson Palmer, USC, QB, Senior
2003: Jason White, Oklahoma QB, Senior
2004: Matt Leinart, USC, QB, Junior
2005: Reggie Bush, USC, RB, Junior
2006: Troy Smith, Ohio State, QB, Senior
2007: Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Sophomore
2008: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, QB, Sophomore
2009: Mark Ingram, Alabama, RB, Sophomore
2010: Cam Newton, Auburn, QB, Junior
2011: Robert Griffin III, Baylor, QB, Junior
2012: Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, QB, Freshman
2013: Jameis Winston, Florida State, QB, Freshman
2014: Marcus Mariota, Oregon, QB, Junior
2015: Derrick Henry, Alabama, RB, Junior
2016: Lamar Jackson, Louisville, QB, Sophomore
2017: Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma, QB, Senior
2018: Kyler Murray, Oklahoma, QB, Junior
2019: Joe Burrow, LSU, QB, Senior
2020: DeVonta Smith, Alabama, WR, Senior
2021: Bryce Young, Alabama, QB, Sophomore
2022: Caleb Williams, USC, QB, Sophomore
2023: Jayden Daniel, LSU, QB, Senior
2024: Travis Hunter, Colorado, CB/WR, Junior
Heisman Trophy winners by team
- USC (eight winners)
- Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma (seven winners)
- Alabama (four winners)
- Army, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska (three winners)
- Colorado, Georgia, Miami, Navy, Texas, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Yale (two winners)
- Baylor, BYU, Boston College, Chicago, Houston, Iowa, Louisville, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Pitt, Princeton, South Carolina, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, UCLA (one winner)
Heisman Trophy winners by position
- Quarterback (37 winners)
- Running back (21 winners)
- Halfback (17 winners)
- End (two winners)
- FB (two winners)
- HB/QB (two winners)
- WR (two winners)
- CB (one winner)
- HB/LB/FB (one winner)
- HB/P (one winner)
- LB (one winner)
- WR/P (one winner)
- WR/PR (one winner)
- WR/CB (one winner)
Heisman history
A Heisman winner has been selected every year since 1935. That season, it was called the DAC Trophy, and it only identified the best player East of the Mississippi River. Jay Berwanger won the inaugural award, and then the top individual award in college football was renamed the Heisman Trophy in 1936 after the death of John Heisman.
In addition to a name change, the Heisman Trophy also represented the entire nation in 1936, which is the year Larry Kelley won the award. There has only ever been one multi-time Heisman Trophy winner. That honor belongs to Archie Griffin, who won the award in 1974 and 1975. The running back is certainly one of the best college football players ever, but his second Heisman victory is one of the most controversial wins, as some think he was undeserving that season.
Speaking of controversy, the biggest Heisman controversy is associated with Reggie Bush. The 2005 winner forfeited his title after it was discovered that he received gifts from agents. However, in 2024, Bush was reinstated as the 2005 Heisman winner because of recent NIL rule changes in college football.
There have been six times that a school had the Heisman winner on their roster in back-to-back seasons. In addition to Griffin winning twice, Larry Kelley and Clint Frank won for Yale (1936/1937), Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis won for Army (1945/1946), Matt Leinart and Bush won with USC (2004/2005), Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray won with Oklahoma (2017/2018), and DeVonta Smith and Bryce Young won with Alabama (2020/2021), all in consecutive seasons.
The award has predominantly gone to seniors, especially in the early days of the award. Sixty-one seniors have won the Heisman. The first junior didn't win until Blanchard in 1945, and now 21 juniors have won the award in total, with Hunter being the most recent. Sophomore winners are even more rare. The first of six sophomore Heisman winners was Tim Tebow in 2007. The only two freshman Heisman winners are Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston, who won the award in back-to-back seasons (2012-13). As elite college players often leave college after their junior years for the NFL these days, young Heisman winners have become more commonplace in the 21st century.
