The Complete History of Heisman Trophy Winners
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Every December, one college football player walks up to a podium in New York, chokes up a little, and lifts a 45-pound bronze figure frozen in a stiff-arm. That figure has been the sport's ultimate individual prize since 1935, and the roster of players who have carried it home reads like a walk through nine decades of the game itself—from single-wing halfbacks in leather helmets to dual-threat quarterbacks and, most recently, a two-way star who almost never left the field.
This is the full accounting: every winner by year, the schools and positions that own the trophy, the records hidden behind the data, and the one player who managed to win it twice.
The Heisman Trophy at a Glance
- Most Recent Winner: Fernando Mendoza, quarterback for Indiana, who claimed the 2025 award on December 13, 2025, as the first winner in program history.
- The Double Standard: Through the 2025 season, the trophy has been presented 91 times to 90 different players. The unique gap belongs entirely to Ohio State's Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner in history (1974 and 1975).
- Program Leaders: USC fields the most individual winners of any school with eight, followed closely by a three-way tie at seven between Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Oklahoma.
- The Namesake: The award was first presented in 1935 to Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago, eventually named in honor of John W. Heisman, the pioneering coach and rules innovator who helped codify the forward pass.
Every Heisman Trophy Winner by Era
The Leather-Helmet Years (1935–1949)
- 1935 — Jay Berwanger, halfback, Chicago
- 1936 — Larry Kelley, end, Yale
- 1937 — Clint Frank, halfback, Yale
- 1938 — Davey O'Brien, quarterback, TCU
- 1939 — Nile Kinnick, halfback, Iowa
- 1940 — Tom Harmon, halfback, Michigan
- 1941 — Bruce Smith, halfback, Minnesota
- 1942 — Frank Sinkwich, halfback, Georgia
- 1943 — Angelo Bertelli, quarterback, Notre Dame
- 1944 — Les Horvath, quarterback/halfback, Ohio State
- 1945 — Doc Blanchard, fullback, Army
- 1946 — Glenn Davis, halfback, Army
- 1947 — Johnny Lujack, quarterback, Notre Dame
- 1948 — Doak Walker, halfback, SMU
- 1949 — Leon Hart, end, Notre Dame
The Postwar Boom (1950–1969)
- 1950 — Vic Janowicz, halfback, Ohio State
- 1951 — Dick Kazmaier, halfback, Princeton
- 1952 — Billy Vessels, halfback, Oklahoma
- 1953 — Johnny Lattner, halfback, Notre Dame
- 1954 — Alan Ameche, fullback, Wisconsin
- 1955 — Howard Cassady, halfback, Ohio State
- 1956 — Paul Hornung, quarterback, Notre Dame
- 1957 — John David Crow, halfback, Texas A&M
- 1958 — Pete Dawkins, halfback, Army
- 1959 — Billy Cannon, halfback, LSU
- 1960 — Joe Bellino, halfback, Navy
- 1961 — Ernie Davis, halfback, Syracuse
- 1962 — Terry Baker, quarterback, Oregon State
- 1963 — Roger Staubach, quarterback, Navy
- 1964 — John Huarte, quarterback, Notre Dame
- 1965 — Mike Garrett, halfback, USC
- 1966 — Steve Spurrier, quarterback, Florida
- 1967 — Gary Beban, quarterback, UCLA
- 1968 — O.J. Simpson, halfback, USC
- 1969 — Steve Owens, fullback, Oklahoma
The Running Back Era (1970–1989)
- 1970 — Jim Plunkett, quarterback, Stanford
- 1971 — Pat Sullivan, quarterback, Auburn
- 1972 — Johnny Rodgers, wide receiver, Nebraska
- 1973 — John Cappelletti, running back, Penn State
- 1974 — Archie Griffin, running back, Ohio State
- 1975 — Archie Griffin, running back, Ohio State
- 1976 — Tony Dorsett, running back, Pittsburgh
- 1977 — Earl Campbell, running back, Texas
- 1978 — Billy Sims, running back, Oklahoma
- 1979 — Charles White, running back, USC
- 1980 — George Rogers, running back, South Carolina
- 1981 — Marcus Allen, running back, USC
- 1982 — Herschel Walker, running back, Georgia
- 1983 — Mike Rozier, running back, Nebraska
- 1984 — Doug Flutie, quarterback, Boston College
- 1985 — Bo Jackson, running back, Auburn
- 1986 — Vinny Testaverde, quarterback, Miami (FL)
- 1987 — Tim Brown, wide receiver, Notre Dame
- 1988 — Barry Sanders, running back, Oklahoma State
- 1989 — Andre Ware, quarterback, Houston
The Modern Game (1990–2009)
- 1990 — Ty Detmer, quarterback, BYU
- 1991 — Desmond Howard, wide receiver, Michigan
- 1992 — Gino Torretta, quarterback, Miami (FL)
- 1993 — Charlie Ward, quarterback, Florida State
- 1994 — Rashaan Salaam, running back, Colorado
- 1995 — Eddie George, running back, Ohio State
- 1996 — Danny Wuerffel, quarterback, Florida
- 1997 — Charles Woodson, cornerback, Michigan
- 1998 — Ricky Williams, running back, Texas
- 1999 — Ron Dayne, running back, Wisconsin
- 2000 — Chris Weinke, quarterback, Florida State
- 2001 — Eric Crouch, quarterback, Nebraska
- 2002 — Carson Palmer, quarterback, USC
- 2003 — Jason White, quarterback, Oklahoma
- 2004 — Matt Leinart, quarterback, USC
- 2005 — Reggie Bush, running back, USC
- 2006 — Troy Smith, quarterback, Ohio State
- 2007 — Tim Tebow, quarterback, Florida
- 2008 — Sam Bradford, quarterback, Oklahoma
- 2009 — Mark Ingram II, running back, Alabama
The Playoff Era (2010–2025)
- 2010 — Cam Newton, quarterback, Auburn
- 2011 — Robert Griffin III, quarterback, Baylor
- 2012 — Johnny Manziel, quarterback, Texas A&M
- 2013 — Jameis Winston, quarterback, Florida State
- 2014 — Marcus Mariota, quarterback, Oregon
- 2015 — Derrick Henry, running back, Alabama
- 2016 — Lamar Jackson, quarterback, Louisville
- 2017 — Baker Mayfield, quarterback, Oklahoma
- 2018 — Kyler Murray, quarterback, Oklahoma
- 2019 — Joe Burrow, quarterback, LSU
- 2020 — DeVonta Smith, wide receiver, Alabama
- 2021 — Bryce Young, quarterback, Alabama
- 2022 — Caleb Williams, quarterback, USC
- 2023 — Jayden Daniels, quarterback, LSU
- 2024 — Travis Hunter, cornerback/wide receiver, Colorado
- 2025 — Fernando Mendoza, quarterback, Indiana
The Recent Milestone Years: 2024 and 2025
2025: Fernando Mendoza’s Historic Run
Fernando Mendoza's 2025 campaign ended the award argument before Thanksgiving. The redshirt junior, who transferred to Indiana from California, threw for 2,980 yards and a nation-leading 33 touchdowns while completing 71.5% of his passes. He steered the Hoosiers to a perfect 13–0 regular season, a Big Ten championship, and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff before sealing a national title.
Mendoza collected 2,362 total points and 643 first-place votes, well clear of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 points). Mendoza earned 84.66% of the total possible points pool, marking the seventh-highest share in award history.
2024: Travis Hunter’s Two-Way Dominance
The 2024 award rewarded an ironman workload that the modern game had made almost extinct. Colorado's Travis Hunter starred at both cornerback and wide receiver, often during the same drive. Not since Michigan's Charles Woodson in 1997 had a Heisman winner logged significant reps on defense. Hunter claimed 552 first-place votes and 2,231 total points, finishing 214 points ahead of Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty in the closest ballot race since 2009.
Blue Blood Leaderboards: Winners by Program
When looking at institutional history, a distinct hierarchy emerges among the sport's traditional heavyweights:
| School | Total Trophies | Individual Winners | Historical Standard-Bearers |
|---|---|---|---|
USC | 8 Trophies | 8 Winners | Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Carson Palmer, Caleb Williams |
Notre Dame | 7 Trophies | 7 Winners | Angelo Bertelli, Paul Hornung, John Huarte, Tim Brown |
Oklahoma | 7 Trophies | 7 Winners | Billy Vessels, Jason White, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray |
Ohio State | 7 Trophies | 6 Winners | Les Horvath, Archie Griffin (x2), Eddie George, Troy Smith |
Alabama | 4 Trophies | 4 Winners | Mark Ingram II, Derrick Henry, DeVonta Smith, Bryce Young |
Ohio State's program history carries a defining asterisk: the Buckeyes own seven bronze statues but only six individual winners, courtesy of Archie Griffin's back-to-back dominance.
Positional Shifts: Following the Ball
The Heisman has always been a skill-position honor, but the specific position preferred by the electorate has shifted alongside offensive philosophies:
- Quarterbacks (39 Winners): The modern standard. As the spread offense turned the quarterback into a player touching the football on 100% of live snaps, voting habits followed.
- Running Backs / Halfbacks (43 Winners/44 Trophies): The historical kings. Melding single-wing halfbacks with modern tailbacks accounts for more than a third of all-time winners, headlined by iconic runners like Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker, and Barry Sanders.
- Wide Receivers (4 Winners): Elite company. Johnny Rodgers (1972), Tim Brown (1987), Desmond Howard (1991), and DeVonta Smith (2020) form the entirety of this specialized ledger.
- Defensive / Two-Way Stars (2 Winners): The ultimate outliers. Charles Woodson’s 1997 interception and return metrics, along with Travis Hunter’s 2024 snap counts, represent the only times defensive stalwarts have broken standard offensive monopoly.
Vacated and Restored: The Reggie Bush Saga
For fourteen years, the 2005 Heisman Trophy sat in legal limbo. Reggie Bush won the award in a historic landslide, but he subsequently forfeited the trophy in September 2010 following NCAA sanctions regarding improper benefits.
The ground underneath college sports shifted permanently with the 2021 Supreme Court Alston ruling and the formalization of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compensation. Recognizing that athlete compensation had become a legalized mainstream reality, the Heisman Trust officially restored Bush’s trophy on April 24, 2024. The Trust noted that Bush was unquestionably the most outstanding player of 2005, making USC's record book whole once again.
The Heisman Curse: Professional Projection vs. Production
The "Heisman Curse" is the lingering superstition that college football's top honor jinxes a player's NFL future. Notable historical busts like Matt Leinart, Andre Ware, Jason White, Eric Crouch, and Johnny Manziel are frequently cited as evidence. Manziel, the trophy's first freshman winner, was entirely out of the professional ranks within two seasons, while 1964 winner John Huarte managed just 230 passing yards on Sundays.
However, the counter-evidence runs incredibly deep. Icons like Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett, Barry Sanders, Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Tim Brown, and Charles Woodson leveraged their college dominance into legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame careers. Statistically, Heisman winners do not underperform their draft slots; rather, the perceived "curse" highlights the structural gap between Heisman voters rewarding past collegiate production and NFL scouts projecting raw physical traits.
This story was originally published by Lindys Sports on Jul 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Lindys Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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