Shonn Greene for the Heisman! Is anyone with me? Ok, I won't get that extreme, because I, along with other knowledgable college football fans, know that Sam Bradford should run away with the award. Bradford's TD/Int Ratio has him as the front-runner for the Heisman, not to mention the fact that he's on a championship contending team. It seems like that is the only thing voters are going to be caring to look for this year. As I believe that Bradford should win, I believe that he is the only player who should be ahead of Shonn Greene.
Shonn Greene first played for the Iowa Hawkeyes in the year of 2005. He was a redshirt freshman and he was just learning under the wings of solid starting back for the Hawkeyes at the time, Albert Young. Greene saw limited action, only giving Albert Young that occasional breather when he was carrying the load. Next year in 2006, same exact story. The future looked bright for Shonn Greene. He was doing what most young running backs on Big 10 teams do, he sat on the bench and learned. Of course, he knew that it would soon be his chance to shine for the Hawks as the starter. The starting job was his, once Young graduated.
Shonn Greene took a turn for the worst in 2007. He violated team rules, and was dismissed from the team. Greene knew he had what it takes to be a top Big 10 running back, and he now had to watch that opportunity pass as he was probably thinking he made one of the biggest mistakes in his life. He decided to attend a nearby Junior College in Iowa City to try to get his grades back up and just to try to get his life back together. Greene did not play football the entire last year. He quietly kept in shape, got his grades up, and he worked at a furniture store lifting and delivering furniture for three of the months at the Junior College, just so he could pay for his tuition. The Hawkeyes took Green back after their 2008 Spring practice. The New Jersey native began to mold with this Iowa offense and it seemed like he really had a niche for it. It wasn't clear if he'd start going into this season or not, but he ended up earning it outright.
I realize the standards that the Heisman voters base their selections on, and I realize that Sam Bradford should and will win the Heisman based on THEIR STANDARDS. Those standards are.... national media coverage every week, team in championship contention, and quarterbacks are always more worthy than running backs. These standards just aren't right, so I'm going to state my case and say Shonn Greene is the most worthy candidate for this award. He's easily the top back in the nation, so I won't bother to compare him with the other backs like Ringer and Moreno, etc.
Here is something to take into consideration. Take a look at Shonn Greene's supporting cast compared to those of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Graham Harrell, and Tim Tebow. All of the four quarterbacks mentioned have very strong running backs and wide receivers supporting them.
Greene has 1,729 yards on 278 carries, which was an average of 6.2 yards, and he has 17 TD's. Iowa's QB, Ricky Stanzi went 137/235 with 1,809 yards, 13 TD's and 7 Int's. In other words, Shonn Greene did everything for this team and the thing is, a total of 12 points are what give the Hawkeyes four losses. Lost by 1 point @ Pitt. Lost by 5 vs. Northwestern. Lost by 3 @ Michigan State. Lost by 3 @ Illinois. Keep in mind that three of those four teams are solid teams with the exception of the Illini, who are average.
If Greene was given consideration a few weeks earlier, then he'd be a strong candidate on everyone's list. It's really kind of tragic. He best be invited to NY.
Feel free to comment, I accept both compliments and criticism. Thanks for reading.
