Te'o vs Woodson
I'm bringin this up because it is already being vomited on ad nauseum in every sports media source. For the latest, see eveyone's favorite hated man--Skip Bayless.
The obvious question: does Te'o deserve the Heisman trophy? More importantly to this fan base, how does Te'o's season compare to Charles Woodson's Heisman winning season. (the only primarily defensive player to ever win the award)
Cursory facts to consider:
- Stand out plays (Heisman "moments")
- Overall performance
- Winning a National Championship
- Tough competition (2nd Place Peyton Manning vs...)
- Strength of opposition
- Rest of the team
Have at it!
Edit: I feel like I opened Pandora's box here by mentioning Skip Bayless and some opinions he had. Everyone and their mother has been mentioning Te'o as a Hiesman candidate--Bayless was just the most recent article I read became aware of.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:13 PM ^
Not even close. Teo is a beast for sure, but not on the same level. They have to give the thing to someone though, and this year seems short on viable candidates so he has a very real shot at it.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:18 PM ^
This is the biggest reason I think. Teo is a very good player, but it just seems like this is a pretty down year for Heisman candidates. Throw in the fact that he's from ND, stayed for his final season and ND is in the BCS title game and the ND hype machine is going full throttle.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^
I strongly agree with the last point here. Te'o is nowhere near as good as Woodson in my mind, but he is a very good linebacker, ND would not be where they are if not for his play, but in most other years he is maybe an outside candidate at best.
I wouldn't be upset if he won, but I would largely attribute it to the lack of other good candidates. This is not to say he is not a great player, because he is, but I wouldn't normally think of him as a Heisman level player.
November 27th, 2012 at 3:35 PM ^
Teo hasn't been used on the offense at all.. which made Woodson unique as he seemed to excel on both sides of the ball.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:14 PM ^
Jesus Christ on a cracker, people still watch/listen to Skip Bayless?!
November 27th, 2012 at 2:15 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:24 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:36 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 4:20 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 8:31 PM ^
when Skip hinted at Troy Aikman being homosexual (in his book), Aikman scheduled a consultation with his lawyer on the legal ramifications of him beating the shit out of Bayless.
Shame that his lawyer talked him out of it. I would have payed to see that happen.
November 27th, 2012 at 9:27 PM ^
I'm sure if they ever passed a collection plate for that, the sum total of donations to see Bayless get his ass kicked could pay for the athletic dept budget
November 27th, 2012 at 3:20 PM ^
Those guys are morons, it is. I haven't heard a single word of analysis from either of them-- they simply state trends and social pressures, it is. Example : Who will win the Michigan v NC state game? Skip: you have to think NC State will win because no one believes in them and player X's grandma died and he was close to her. Stephen: Michigan will win. The big ten is the best conference and Michigan wants to prove it.
note: zero analysis, it is
November 28th, 2012 at 3:16 AM ^
is very very nice looking. But ya, she has to be getting paid alot of cash to have to sit in between those two.
Can't believe he is even mentioned with Woodson.
November 27th, 2012 at 4:23 PM ^
I switched to Sesame Street. It has more mature discourse than Skip and Steve's Shouting Session
November 27th, 2012 at 7:15 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:14 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:37 PM ^
Its not like the rest of us know Woodson personally and since you are "younger" you should be more likely to take advantage of the interwebs, particularly youtube. Do 5 minutes of research and you will be able to answer the second question. However, I will spare you the time; WOODSON!!
November 27th, 2012 at 2:48 PM ^
And I remember this:
Nuff said.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:52 PM ^
I often fail to appreciate that many of you didn't get to live 90s Michigan football. True, other than in 1997, my college years were marked by 8-4 football, but damn were there some awesome players! I was sitting in the Sparty student section when Woodson made that catch. There were many a slack jaw and I just laughed my a-- off.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:57 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:14 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:28 PM ^
is the one where Omameh makes him his bitch. Granted, it wasn't this year, but I don't remember anything like this ever happening to Woodson.
November 27th, 2012 at 6:35 PM ^
Last year is, and should be, irrelevant. If the award was based on previous years then we should just go ahead and give it to the top rated recruit each year. As soon as anyone makes a single mistake then they are out of contention never to be let back in.
All QBs must have perfect passer ratings and never throw an interception ever.
All RBs must never have a run for less than 4 yards and are not allowed to fumble ever.
All WRs must never have a drop in their career.
November 27th, 2012 at 9:30 PM ^
that Te'o has no true "wow Heisman moment" plays like Woodson or Howard had in their careers. Yes, he's a hell of a LB, but he's not Heisman material. If he was on any other team than ND he wouldn't be in the conversation.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:15 PM ^
I agree Te'o is not CW however, he seems to meet the criteria the OP listed.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:17 PM ^
I tried to read the article but couldn't get past the part that said: By: Skip Bayless, First Take Host.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 6:37 PM ^
Offensive stats should not be a requirement. A defensive player can take over a game without scoring. This just lends to the idea that games are won on the offensive side of the ball. That is simply not true.
November 27th, 2012 at 7:02 PM ^
Did you happen to miss some of the big network TV games? 2 INTs vs UM, 11 tackles vs Stanford, 11 tackles and a monster sack @ Oklahoma another pick vs USC. A bunch of those plays changed those games.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:22 PM ^
If you needed another reason why Te'o shoudn't win the Heisman, Skip is in is corner and wanting it to happen. I refuse to listen or read to Skip as he has no soul...just finds a topic and takes the opposite side of the popular arguement.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^
Te'o is no Woodson but this year, with no other player raising their hand and showing that they deserve the trophy, he is a very intriguing candidate for the trophy. I mean, it would make for an amazing story in an already storybook season. But is he clearly the best and most valuable player on the field at any given moment? I don't think so. For example, if he went down with an injury, would ND's defense suffer as greatly as Michigan's offense did when Denard went down?
November 27th, 2012 at 5:06 PM ^
Remember though, the Heisman isn't an MVP award. It's an award for "the most outstanding player."
November 27th, 2012 at 2:23 PM ^
If you go to his Twitter feed (LINK), he puts up a series of gifs that convey his reaction to the Bayless piece. They're pretty funny, I highly recommend you check them out.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:26 PM ^
The Heisman voting has become a joke. Apart from RGIII last year, the Heisman Trophy has become a gift given to the most popular 'story' on the number one/hottest team of any given year.
What used to be an amazing honor has become a tool to attract page hits, or even worse, to justify previously written fluff.
NOW GET OFF MY LAWN GRUMBLE GRUMBLE
November 27th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^
"You can't convince me Johnny Manziel deserves the Heisman over Manti Te'o any more than I'll probably be able to convince you that, right now, Johnny Football's team could beat Notre Dame, Alabama or Georgia."
Johnny Football did beat Alabama. The rest of your article is now baseless.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:31 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:31 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:32 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:32 PM ^
Skip Bayless is an idiot.
November 27th, 2012 at 3:12 PM ^
But have you tried his brother's Guajillo Salsa? Extraordinary on scrambled eggs and grilled meats.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:38 PM ^
if he runs a punt back for a TD, he's got my vote
November 27th, 2012 at 2:40 PM ^
Manti Te'o is a great linebacker, and his 427 total tackles for his career to date makes to him invaluable to the Notre Dame defense, but his 7 interceptions for 35 yards this year is all that he has gained when it comes to yardage in his career. What Te'o is not been, however, is a workhorse of a defensive back that had 8 interceptions in a seson once (18 in his career) and has scored TDs as a receiver, rusher and punt returner. When you're making that sort of impact in games almost everywhere on the field, depending on the situation, and you're a defensive player primarily, it might be a different story. Simply for his proficiency as an LB, however, I don't think Te'o has a great case.
November 27th, 2012 at 2:59 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 3:10 PM ^
Suh didn't do much until that 5 or w/e sack game against Texas.
November 27th, 2012 at 3:39 PM ^
November 27th, 2012 at 2:47 PM ^
Te'o is a great player and has had a great year, but Charles was the most dynamic player period. He was a complete difference maker in all three phases of the game. He also beat out Peyton Manning and Randy Moss, which shows just how special of a player Charles was that year. Sure, the fact that the competition is not that great, and college football in general has been pretty mediocre this year, Te'o could realistically win the trophy. I don't think he should win it, but the ND hype machine is in full throttle, one of the reasons I don't watch ESPN.
November 27th, 2012 at 3:05 PM ^
Also, Te'o wouldn't be very effective at all if he didn't have a great d line. Te'o has been clean most of the year to wreak havoc, because of that great line. Even though we had a great d line in Charles' heisman year, he still was on an island, and still made play after play.
November 27th, 2012 at 6:39 PM ^
Should a QB only be able to win it with crappy WRs and a bad OL? Football is a team game. The Heisman, is often referred to by the winners as a team award.