May 14, 2012 · 2:00 PM

60-minute man

In a post about Malcolm Mitchell’s prospects  for becoming Georgia’s first two-way player since Champ Bailey, John Pennington notes this about the latter:

Bailey played at least 100 plays for Georgia in seven game during his junior season in 1998 and put up better numbers than 1997 Heisman-winner Charles Woodson in doing so.

I’m not saying Champ should have won the Heisman that year – Ricky Williams rushed for more than 2,300 yards, remember – but I have a hard time understanding how these numbers didn’t translate into better than a seventh place finish with the Heisman voters.

11 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football

11 responses to “60-minute man”

  1. Spence
    May 14, 2012 at 2:05 PM

    Mike Bobo’s playcalling wasted Champ’s talent and cost Champ the Heisman.

    Like

  2. Ryan
    May 14, 2012 at 2:27 PM

    Maybe it had something to do with Champ playing for a 9-3 team in 1998 and Woodson’s team going undefeated and winning the Natty the prior year. The higher the profile, the higher the bounty.

    Champ was a badass, but you have to be breaking records if you’re on an average team to get that sort of notoriety (like Ricky).

    Like

    • Castleberry
      May 14, 2012 at 2:48 PM

      Agreed. There were a lot of studs on that ’98 list and Ricky Williams deserved the trophy. Even with the 9-3 record, if Champ returned a punt (or maybe caught a tunnel screen) for a TD against Ohio State, he might have been invited to New York.

      Like

  3. Chuck
    May 14, 2012 at 2:35 PM

    Heisman voters – apart from the past winners – are basically media influenced idiots. I bet Tony Barnhart has a vote.

    Like

  4. Joe
    May 14, 2012 at 2:55 PM

    If ESPN had waged a full on media campaign on behalf of CB, he would have won as well.

    Like

  5. Ubiquitous GA Alum
    May 14, 2012 at 3:27 PM

    Considering the Champ’s offensive numbers resulted from essentially 1 play — the tunnel screen — and it really makes his numbers all the more impressive.

    Like

  6. By Georgia We Did It
    May 14, 2012 at 5:06 PM

    Champ needed that special play/TD that resonated with CFB fans and would be replayed over and over. UGA wasn’t playing for a natty and woodson had just won the trophy the year before. Voters weren’t going to give it to 2 DB’s back to back.

    Like

  7. TL
    May 14, 2012 at 5:22 PM

    I thought the same thing about Champ’s 1998 at the time and continue to think that to this day. Woodson did the Heisman pose and got on the cover of SI with a rose in his mouth for Michigan going to the Rose Bowl. Champ was on a team that lost its only 3 games on CBS — against Tennessee, Florida, and Joe Hamilton.

    Like