The Heisman Trophy is the pinnacle of individual collegiate sports awards, as the winner is immortalized in a special club for the rest of time.
Most Heisman Trophy winners have gone on to become NFL stars, allowing them to remain in the public eye well past their football days on campus.
However, winning the Heisman doesn’t guarantee anything at the next level, which certain players learned the hard way. We’ll examine three former Heisman winners whose stardom essentially ended once they left school.
Troy Smith, Ohio State
It’s common knowledge that college football odds perennially give Ohio State a great chance to win the national championship with their star-laden rosters. Fans of a certain age might remember how great Smith was as he led the program to immense success around 20 years ago. He won the Heisman in 2006 when he threw for 30 touchdowns. Interestingly, Smith ran for 11 touchdowns in 2005, but just one in 2006. It seemed like he focused on doing most of his damage in the pocket, which he certainly achieved.
Unlike the two names on this list, Smith played in the NFL. He stuck around for four seasons as a backup quarterback, three of which were spent with the Baltimore Ravens. He finished his NFL career with 1,734 yards passing, eight touchdowns, and five interceptions.
Eric Crouch, Nebraska
Crouch’s senior season with Nebraska led him to win the Heisman Trophy 2001. He was a player in the mold of Kordell Stewart, a versatile quarterback who used his athleticism as a primary weapon every Saturday. While his passing statistics that year weren’t anything to write home about, Crouch ran for 1,115 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. This was his claim to fame throughout his Cornhuskers career, as he ran for 16 scores as a sophomore and 20 as a junior.
As electric as Crouch was in the Big 12, he didn’t get to prove what he could do on the NFL level. After his Nebraska days, he latched on with the St. Louis Rams, but retired before he ever played a regular-season game. He hoped to play wide receiver at the professional level, but ultimately decided that the bumps and bruises from his college days wouldn’t allow him to reach his full NFL potential.
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Jason White, Oklahoma
White almost won back-to-back Heisman Trophy awards, finishing third in 2004. He brought home the iconic trophy in 2003, in a season where he threw for 40 touchdowns and 3,846 yards. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, he was the first Oklahoma quarterback to win the award, despite the program’s storied history. He battled through two knee injuries in his college career to take home the sport’s highest honor.
Despite his achievements in college football, White went undrafted by the NFL. The NFL seemed to have resisted taking a chance on White’s potential lack of mobility at the next level, given the persistent leg injuries he had on campus.
Troy Smith, Ohio State
