5 Heisman winners who lived up to the hype in the NFL ft. Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton and more
The Heisman Trophy is the highest honor in college football and one of the most prestigious awards in the entire world of sports. It is presented to the most outstanding player in college football in a particular season. Not only does the winner go down in history, but they also get a ton of recognition in the NFL Draft process.
Winning the Heisman Trophy often means that a large amount of hype will come with it. The expectations to perform in the NFL are greater and most of the time it results in a selection in the NFL Draft. Here are five previous Heisman winners who lived up to that hype in the NFL.
Hyped Heisman winners who found success in the NFL
#1 - QB Cam Newton
Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy in 2010 as Auburn's quarterback. His dual threat ability and impressive physicality as a quarterback earned him the top overall selection in the NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. He burst onto the NFL scene immediately, winning Rookie of the Year award by passing for 4051 yards with 21 touchdowns and rushing for 706 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Young received 83% of possible points, which is the seventh highest in the history of the Heisman surpassing Auburn QB Cam Newton (81.55%). twitter.com/ryangregware_/…
Cam Newton opened his career with eight straight seasons where he recorded more than 3000 passing yards and 35 rushing yards. He is a former NFL MVP winner and even made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
Only once in my lifetime has a QB won the #HeismanTrophy & led his NFL team to a SuperBowl appearance:
@CameronNewton.
#CamNewton is also the only Heisman Winner in last 40 years to have winning percentage over 52% with minimum of 50 NFL starts. https://t.co/KPMzPVGN9z
#2 - RB Barry Sanders
Barry Sanders won the Heisman Trophy with Oklahoma State and then went on to become one of the greatest running backs in NFL history for the Detroit Lions. He averaged 100 yards per game and five yards per carry in his career. He eclipsed 1100 rushing yards in all ten of his seasons, including over 1500 in half of them. In 1997 he rushed for over 2000 yards and won the NFL MVP award.
Also Read: What is Cam Newton’s net worth in 2021?