The Legacy of the Bronze Figurine : The Story of the Prestigious Heisman and Jayden Daniels’ Unforgettable Campaign to Achieve Greatness

The Story of the Prestigious Heisman and Jayden Daniels’ Unforgettable Campaign to Achieve Greatness     

The Heisman. The pinnacle of collegiate football and the most glorified personal award in college sports. Each year, college football presents the Heisman Trophy to the best player in the nation. The Downtown Athletic Club of New York City established the Trophy in 1935 and named it in honor of John Heisman, the club’s first athletic director. Since then, only the best of the best get to etch their names in history. This year Jayden Daniels joins the list of greats, as just the third LSU player to be given the prestigious award, and now he sits next to the highest college performers of all time. 

No different from any year, Jayden Daniels’ nomination sparked some resentment around the college football world. While the other two final candidates, Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix had similar passing stats to Daniels, all being within 100 yards of each other in the regular season, Penix and Nix had achieved a status Jayden Daniels was unable to achieve– they made pushes into the playoffs (ESPN). The University of Washington quarterback Penix Jr. helped the Huskies to an undefeated regular season in the Pac-12, while Bo Nix carried his team, the Oregon Ducks, to a regular season record of 11-1, only losing to Washington in a heated contest. Not only did Michael Pennix Jr. and Bo Nix win games, but they also set records. Penix threw for 4,903 passing yards, the most ever by a University of Washington quarterback and the runner up in Pac-12 history, whereas Nix’s 77.4% completion percentage is tied with Mac Jones for the highest percentage in college football history (Sports Reference). Both Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix had historical seasons to say the least, falling just short of being crowned FBS champions and Heisman medalists.  

Luckily for the winning Daniels, the Heisman is an award purely based on individual performance, not team success, and Daniels undoubtedly had the statistics to back up his Heisman title. The place where Daniels really shined the most this season was with his dual threat quarterback abilities. In addition to his already impressive 3,812 passing yards and 40 touchdowns in just 12 games, he also rushed for 1,134 yards, including 10 rushing touchdowns. His stats proved that he was clearly the best fit to win (Heisman). In comparison, Bo Nix only had 234 total rushing yards, while Michael Penix Jr. ran for only 8 yards in the whole season. Jayden Daniel’s ability to throw, scramble, and control an offense has proved instrumental in his college football career, but also makes him a projectable quarterback in the NFL. He is predicted to be drafted in the top five players in the upcoming draft, possibly looking to develop with the New England Patriots under new coach, Jerod Mayo. 

Now with the college football season officially wrapped up and a full year to go until the next Heisman winner is chosen, potential superstars and future champions are already being evaluated. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II are both rising juniors who finished 6th and 7th in the 2023 Heisman race (Heisman). They have shown their dominance this past season and aspire to follow the path of Jayden Daniels in 2024. As long as college football is around, the Heisman’s relevance will live on with the best young players being celebrated for their record breaking seasons, astonishing stat lines, and crazy highlights, each ultimately hoping to be crowned the best player to touch the field that season. 

Ryan Wolff