The Heisman Trophy is an award given each year to the best player in college football. The award is voted on primarily by a nationwide panel of sports journalists. The Heisman Trophy was created by New York's Downtown Athletic Club -- and the trophy is still given there each year. In its first year, 1935, it was known as the DAC (Downtown Athletic Club) Trophy, but with the death of distinguished athlete and coaching genius John W. Heisman in 1936, it was renamed the Heisman Memorial Trophy.

The Heisman Trophy itself is a bronze statuette of a football player in an action pose. The player is in an athletic position, his right leg lunging forward, the ball tucked firmly in his left arm and his right hand extended forward in a "stiff-arm" position. Although John Heisman was a good - though undersized - football player, the trophy was not made in his likeness. Frank Eliscu, a sculptor, chose New York University football star Ed Smith as the model, but the player on the Heisman Trophy is intended to be anonymous.

The first Heisman Trophy was awarded to Chicago running back Jay Berwanger. Through 2002, 68 years since its inception, only 11 juniors won the award. The rest of the winners were all seniors. In 2003, though, a streak began of three straight years in which the Heisman Trophy was won by a junior. Oklahoma quarterback Jason White won as a junior in 2003, USC quarterback Matt Leinart did the same in 2004, and a USC running back did again in 2005.

Among all the juniors who have won the Heisman Trophy - some of whom have entered the NFL the following season - only one player won the trophy again his senior year. In 1974 and 1975, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin became the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice.

While the Heisman Trophy has often been given to running backs who went on to Hall of Fame careers in professional football - including Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, O.J. Simpson, and Barry Sanders - the same cannot be said for quarterbacks. From 1989 to 2001, the Heisman Trophy was awarded to nine quarterbacks - Andre Ware, Ty Detmer, Gino Torretta, Charlie Ward, Danny Wuerffel, Chris Weinke, and Eric Crouch - none of whom enjoyed anything more than marginal success in the NFL. Quarterback and running back are far and away the most common positions to receive the Heisman Trophy. Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson became the first defensive player to win the award in 1997, beating out Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, but Woodson was noted for his kick returning and occasional play at wide receiver as well as his defensive skill.