Heisman winners by year: Complete history of players to win college football's top award | Sporting News

The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious award in the now crowded space of college football awards, and each year in generates intense interest ahead of the awards ceremony each December.

In the 21st century, it has primarily been a quarterback award, with 20 of the 24 Heisman Trophy winners since 2000 being signal-callers, including last year's winner: Jayden Daniels of LSU.

This year, though, the two top candidates represent other positions: Travis Hunter is a wide receiver and defensive back for Colorado, and Ashton Sheanty is a running back for Boise State.

There have been 89 Heisman Trophy awards handed out since 1935, when Jay Berwanger of Chicago became the first winner.

The 2024 ceremony will mark the 90th in the history of the award.

Here's a look at the complete history of Heisman Trophy winners.

List of Heisman Trophy winners Year Player School Position 1935 Jay Berwanger Chicago HB 1936 Larry Kelley Yale E 1937 Clint Frank Yale HB 1938 Davey O'Brien TCU QB 1939 Nile Kinnick Iowa QB/HB 1940 Tom Harmon Michigan HB 1941 Bruce Smith Minnesota HB 1942 Frank Sinkwich Georgia HB 1943 Angelo Bertelli Notre Dame QB 1944 Les Horvath Ohio State QB/HB 1945 Doc Blanchard Army FB 1946 Glenn Davis Army HB 1947 Johnny Lujack Notre Dame QB 1948 Doak Walker SMU HB 1949 Leon Hart Notre Dame E 1950 Vic Janowicz Ohio State HB/P 1951 Dick Kazmaier Princeton HB 1952 Billy Vessels Oklahoma HB 1953 Johnny Lattner Notre Dame HB 1954 Alan Ameche Wisconsin FB 1955 Howard Cassady Ohio State HB 1956 Paul Hornung Notre Dame QB 1957 John David Crow Texas A&M HB 1958 Pete Dawkins Army HB 1959 Billy Cannon LSU HB 1960 Joe Bellino Navy HB 1961 Ernie Davis Syracuse HB/FB/LB 1962 Terry Baker Oregon State QB 1963 Roger Staubach Navy QB 1964 John Huarte Notre Dame QB 1965 Mike Garrett USC HB 1966 Steve Spurrier Florida QB 1967 Gary Beban UCLA QB 1968 O.J.

Simpson USC HB 1969 Steve Owens Oklahoma FB 1970 Jim Plunkett Stanford QB 1971 Pat Sullivan Auburn QB 1972 Johnny Rodgers Nebraska WR/RB 1973 John Cappelletti Penn State RB 1974 Archie Griffin Ohio State RB 1975 Archie Griffin Ohio State RB 1976 Tony Dorsett Pitt RB 1977 Earl Campbell Texas RB 1978 Billy Sims Oklahoma RB 1979 Charles White USC RB 1980 George Rogers South Carolina RB 1981 Marcus Allen USC RB 1982 Herschel Walker Georgia RB 1983 Mike Rozier Nebraska RB 1984 Doug Flutie Boston College QB 1985 Bo Jackson Auburn RB 1986 Vinny Testaverde Miami (FL) QB 1987 Tim Brown Notre Dame WR 1988 Barry Sanders Oklahoma State RB 1989 Andre Ware Houston QB 1990 Ty Detmer Brigham Young QB 1991 Desmond Howard Michigan WR 1992 Gino Torretta Miami (FL) QB 1993 Charlie Ward Florida State QB 1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado RB 1995 Eddie George Ohio State RB 1996 Danny Wuerffel Florida QB 1997 Charles Woodson Michigan CB 1998 Ricky Williams Texas RB 1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin RB 2000 Chris Weinke Florida State QB 2001 Eric Crouch Nebraska QB 2002 Carson Palmer USC QB 2003 Jason White Oklahoma QB 2004 Matt Leinart USC QB 2005 Reggie Bush USC RB 2006 Troy Smith Ohio State QB 2007 Tim Tebow Florida QB 2008 Sam Bradford Oklahoma QB 2009 Mark Ingram Alabama RB 2010 Cam Newton Auburn QB 2011 Robert Griffin III Baylor QB 2012 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M QB 2013 Jameis Winston Florida State QB 2014 Marcus Mariota Oregon QB 2015 Derrick Henry Alabama RB 2016 Lamar Jackson Louisville QB 2017 Baker Mayfield Oklahoma QB 2018 Kyler Murray Oklahoma QB 2019 Joe Burrow LSU QB 2020 DeVonta Smith Alabama WR 2021 Bryce Young Alabama QB 2022 Caleb Williams USC QB 2023 Jayden Daniels LSU QB Has anyone won two Heismans? There has only been one player to win the Heisman twice.

That would be Ohio State running back Archie Griffin.

In 1974, Griffin won the Heisman after rushing 256 times for 1,695 yards, registering 12 touchdowns.

He earned 483 first-place votes, with USC running back Anthony Davis earning 120 first-place votes.

The next year, Griffin was back at it.

He ran 262 times for 1,450 yards and four touchdowns.

He also caught 14 passes for 170 yards.

It was a slightly closer vote, but still a runaway for Griffin as he had 454 first-place votes to California running back Chuck Muncie's 145.

Who is the most successful Heisman winner? There have been plenty of successful Heisman Trophy winners in the NFL.

Roger Staubach won four Super Bowls.

Marcus Allen and O.J.

Simpson each earned six Pro Bowl honors.

There are several other Pro Bowl honorees and Super Bowl winners.

But if you're looking at the most successful , there's no question.

It's Barry Sanders.

Sanders had a huge season for Oklahoma State in 1988, rushing 344 times for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Somehow, he would one-up that in the NFL.

In 10 years in the NFL, he took 3,062 carries for 15,269 rushing yards and 99 touchdowns.

He has the fourth-most rushing yards and 10th-most rushing touchdowns of all time.

He was a Pro Bowl running back each year of his career, and he was six times named to an All-Pro team.

He had at least 1,000 rushing yards every season of his career.

In 1997, Sanders rushed for 2,053 yards on 335 carries with 11 touchdowns and caught 33 passes for 305 yards with three touchdowns en route to becoming MVP.

Sanders' decision to retire after the 1998 season was surprising by many, as he had a chance to break Walter Payton's career rushing yardage record and almost certainly would have set plenty of records had he continued past his age 30 season.

But even with the early retirement, few would dispute that Sanders is at or near the top of the list of greatest running backs of all time.

Defensive players to win a Heisman? There is one player who was primarily on defense to win the Heisman: Michigan corner Charles Woodson.

In 1997, Woodson picked off seven passes and returned 33 punts for 283 yards and a touchdown.

Woodson also played a bit on offense, hauling in 11 passes for 231 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but his usage was almost exclusively on defense.

Back in 1961, Syracuse running back Ernie Davis who rushed 150 times for 823 yards and 12 touchdowns also played some linebacker and went on to win the Heisman.

However, since Davis was primarily a running back, the distinction of defensive player to win a Heisman remains just with Woodson..

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