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Deliberate Practice

Heisman as a Predictor

Congratulations to Mark Ingram, winner of the Heisman Trophy. As a sophomore, Ingram is not concerned with pro football right now, but the question exists nevertheless: How well does the Heisman predict success in the NFL?

Over the years the Heisman has produced great NFL players and great NFL flops. Sometimes the flops result from injuries, sometimes from drug use, and other times from just not being good enough.

A website called The Landing Strip held a poll on which Heisman winner turned out to be the best pro, and running back Barry Sanders earned the most support. Quarterback Roger Staubach finished second.

Wikipedia says that only eight Heisman winners have made it to the pro football Hall of Fame. And this particle by Denver Post columnist Tom Kensler says that in the last decade, Heisman winners have won only two of nine bowl games.

Player evaluation is always inexact; lots of high draft choices never make it.

The bottom line is that awards, opinions, and prestige don’t mean anything when it’s time to jump from one level to the next. Instead, habits, attitudes and effort mean more.

Ingram showed a nice mixture of humility and genuineness in his acceptance speech. People will closely watch his progress, first in the national title game against Texas, and later when it’s time for him to think about the pros.

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