As much crap as we like to dish the WWL’s way, it deserves a tip of the cap when it does something right. In this case, it’s thrown two nice things in Aaron Murray’s direction. There’s this, and there’s also this thoughtful gesture from Ivan Maisel:
Sentiment got to me this week when I filled out my ESPN Heisman straw poll. Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray is on my ballot, a tribute to one of the best college careers in recent memory. Murray, who tore his ACL in the Bulldogs’ rout of Kentucky, will miss his final two games at Georgia after starting the first 52 (35-17). Murray not only leaves with every major SEC career record, but he will be honored next month in New York as a finalist for the Campbell Trophy — the Academic Heisman. Murray represents the best of the sport.
Gracias, Mickey. Don’t say you haven’t heard anything appreciative at GTP.
Get The Picture 
Didn’t the Heisman used to be a career award? Maisel went old school for a moment.
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Back in the day it was more of a “career award,” which is why Herschel did not win it until his junior year. That is also why (until Timmy T) no underclassman had ever won it. Nowadays it seems to not only be a single season award, but often a single game award. The Heisman used to reward excellence over a college career, not just a few good games or flashy stats. IMHO, the prestige of the award has been greatly diluted in recent years. However, based purely upon the merits of the athlete, AJ should win it hands down. But also because of recent trends, Jameis wins in unless the Tallahassee PD charges him with a felony. I, for one, am just glad that Johnny Jackass looks as if he’s out of it after the faceplant in Baton Rouge…
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I think any observer of college football would have to honestly say that AJ McCarron deserves the Heisman. Our man Murray would have been a contender if our season had turned out differently but you have to give kudos to the fine young man who is probably leading his team to a third national championship. They are very much alike in character and AJ has led his team on a fantastic run.
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They also led the Monday ESPNU College Football Podcast with some nice words about AM, along with an interesting rebuttal by Maisel to CMR’s statement that all the ACL injuries this year are a fluke.
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When the Heisman was really respected and not the end result of a marketing/hype effort, it stood for more than just a top player (never could say “the” top player) on the field, it also was supposed to be to that gifted athlete that represented what CFB should be about. Yeah, they couldn’t predict that OJ would be become a double murderer, but how a person conducted himself was a factor. When I hear conversations on satellite radio and CFB television shows discussing who should get the award, I rarely hear this. If it were factored in, Johnny Cash would not be in the discussion at all, and Winston’s fate would be hanging on the announcement by the Florida state attorney’s office. It shouldn’t matter to me anyway, but the whole idea of selecting one single player as the overall best football player is laughable. After over a hundred years, we cannot even figure out who is the best team. (And we won’t next year either but we are getting closer to make sure anyone who lays claim to that will have faced, and beaten at least one top team along the way.)
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With the factual and emotional-tinged writeup by Jeff Barliss, it was to my amazement reading that he is a 2011 grad of UF (Useing “UF” in the same class that the article was written). Kudos to Jeff as well as his employer.
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Just ’cause AM damn near owns that lizard ass; and should.Being from that sorry state has got to burn too.
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Sure, but he overcame that to write a nice piece.
And I’m sure you realize that Aaron never lost to FU in regulation game time.
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