Jackson eyes Heisman repeat
Louisville QB seeks to become second two-time winner
NEW YORK — Lamar Jackson gets asked to do the Heisman Trophy pose a lot.
No matter where he goes, even in bustling and crowded Times Square, he’s often recognized. No sooner was Jackson done talking about the fame that has come from winning the Heisman last season did a couple of young fans stop him in a Manhattan hotel to get a selfie with Louisville’s star quarterback.
Jackson leaned in with a big smile. Just like last year, Jackson is a Heisman Trophy finalist. Unlike last year, Jackson is not expected to win. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield is favored to take home the trophy on Saturday night. On Friday, Jackson, Mayfield and Stanford running back Bryce Love arrived in the Big Apple on the tail end of a busy week of bouncing around the country. The three finalists met with reporters, posed with the big bronze statue they are each hoping to win and then headed back out into the cold toward the subway for a trip to Wall Street.
The Heisman experience and first trip to New York blew away Jackson last year. Winning the trophy changed his life. Now, he is just enjoying the ride.
“This year I’ve been here before so it’s kind of like chill,” Jackson said.
Archie Griffin of Ohio State is the only player to win the Heisman Trophy twice. He did in 1974 and
‘75. Since then, eight winners have returned to try to win it again. Six of those have been since 2005. The best any returning Heisman winner has placed in the voting was second. Oklahoma running back Billy Sims was the runner-up to Southern California’s Along with the Sooners’ team success, the 22-year-old quarterback leads the nation in efficiency rating at 203.76 and has thrown for 4,340 yards and is second in the nation with 41 touchdowns. Charles White in 1979.
“It wasn’t tough for me because I was surprised I won it the first time,” Sims said.
Tim Tebow of Florida finished third in the 2008 voting, but by point total was the closet to winning a second Heisman. He received the most first-place votes that year and was 151 points behind winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. Texas quarterback Colt Mccoy finished second.
Jackson probably won’t join Griffin’s exclusive club, but his numbers suggest he has been even better this season than last. He is averaging 411 total yards, up from 393 last year. He has been a more accurate passer, completing 60.4 percent after 56.2 last season.
The difference? Last season, Jackson and the Cardinals had a signature victory against Florida State and they lost a thriller at Clemson. Not until a late November swoon did Louisville fall out of the playoff race in 2016. This season, the Cardinals lost three games by midseason.
Still, his overall numbers are impossible to ignore and this November, as other Heisman contenders started to fade, Jackson’s candidacy gained momentum.
“You see the highlight plays here and there,” Love said. “He’s been doing it for two years now. It’s just amazing to see.”
Jackson won the Heisman as a sophomore last year, the youngest winner at 19 years and 338 days.
“I’d say it was surreal,” Jackson said of what followed his award. He felt like a kid being thrown head first into an adult world he was not quite ready to handle.
“But I still got to go back to college,” Jackson said. “It was crazy.”