The state of Alabama takes great pride in claiming the 2009 and 2010 Heisman Trophy winners, running back Mark Ingram of the University of Alabama and quarterback Cam Newton of Auburn University.
However, the state's high schools didn't produce either winner. Newton attended Georgia's College Park High School in Atlanta while Ingram came to the Crimson Tide from the state of Michigan and Southwestern Academy of Flint.
However, Alabama prep sports fanatics have no reason to hang their heads. The state's history in the Heisman race is among the richest in the nation despite being ranked just 23rd in the nation according to U.S. Census population numbers.
A search of past Heisman Trophy vote tabulation year-by-year shows some staggering numbers.
CONSIDER THESE LITTLE KNOWN HEISMAN FACTS
• Alabama's first prep standout to finish in the Top 5 of the Heisman voting was Harry Gilmer. The Woodlawn High School standout was an All-American at the University of Alabama – making the jump pass one of his best plays. He was fifth in the balloting as a sophomore behind winner Doc Blanchard of Army. Gilmer, who went on to a pro career as a player and head coach in the NFL, was also fifth in the Heisman balloting as a senior in 1947 as Johnny Lujack of Notre Dame took home the top prize.
• Twenty-one times a former Alabama high school player has finished in the Top 10 of the Heisman voting. The last was Pat White of Daphne, the West Virginia quarterback who ranked in that elite group twice. He was sixth in the voting behind winner 2007 winner Tim Tebow and was seventh in the balloting behind 2008 winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. He also finished his college career as the NCAA's all-time leader for rushing yards as a quarterback with more than 4,400 yards. He was drafted into the NFL by the Miami Dolphins and was drafted out of high school in the pro baseball draft.
• The state's high schools have produced two Heisman Trophy winners: 1971 winner Pat Sullivan of Auburn was a standout quarterback at Birmingham's John Carroll Catholic High School after growing up in the West End area of the state's largest city. Vincent "Bo" Jackson of Auburn, a Bessemer native, won the 1985 Heisman after prepping at McAdory High School in the Birmingham suburb of McCalla.
• Sullivan also finished seventh in the 1970 Heisman balloting behind winner Jim Plunkett of Stanford. The top three finishers that year were Plunkett, Joe Theisman of Notre Dame and Archie Manning of Ole Miss. The 1971 Heisman race was a particularly proud moment for the state. Banks High School's Johnny Musso was fourth in the final Heisman tally behind his Birmingham rival Sullivan. Ed Marinaro of Cornell, who made a bigger name as an actor, finished second. Musso, a running back for the University of Alabama, wore jersey No. 22 – the same jersey worn by Ingram, who would win the Heisman in 2009.
• Auburn's first Heisman Top 10 finisher was end Jimmy "Red" Phillips of Alexander City. The co-captain of Auburn's 1957 National Champions was sixth in the Heisman vote behind winner John David Crowe of Texas A&M, who was coached by Aggies head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Phillips went on to become a three-time pro bowler for the Los Angeles Rams and also played for the Minnesota Vikings.
• Ed Dyas, the tenacious fullback and kicker for Auburn who earned All-America honors in 1960, was fourth in the Heisman vote behind 1960 winner Joe Belino of Navy. Dyas, who has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, prepped at McGill-Toolen Catholic in Mobile. He went on to become a noted physician, returning to the Mobile area to establish his practice.
• Pat Trammell was a prep sports legend at Scottsboro High School before signing with Bear Bryant's first class at Alabama in 1958. He finished fifth in the Heisman race behind winner Ernie Davis of Syracuse in 1961. He too became a physician before he lost his battle with cancer in 1968. He was named the MVP of the 1958 state prep basketball tournament his senior season in high school.
• Lee Roy Jordan, who went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, was a University of Alabama teammate of Trammell. The All-America linebacker was fourth in the Heisman vote in 1962 as Terry Baker of Oregon State took home the top prize. Jordan, who has the distinction of being one of the state's most celebrated Heisman candidates, attended Excel High School – the smallest school in the state to produce a Heisman Top 5 vote getter.
• In 1963, Auburn junior Jimmy Sidle finished seventh in the Heisman race behind Roger Staubach of Navy. Sidle prepped at Banks High School in Birmingham and became one of two players to rank in the Heisman's Top 10 voting from that school along with Musso, who followed later in 1971.
• The Crimson Tide won a national title in 1979 and quarterback Steadham Shealy, who prepped at Dothan High School, was 10th in the Heisman vote. Southern Cal running back Charles White, who ran all over UA in 1978, was the winner.
• Another south Alabama prep star finished ninth in the 1983 Heisman race that was won by Nebraska's Mike Rozier. Walter Lewis, who won the national punt, pass and kick competition as a youngster in Brewton, played at T.R. Miller High School before joining Alabama where he quarterbacked Bear Bryant's last team.
• Bo Jackson won in 1985 as Iowa quarterback Chuck Long finished second.
• In 1986, Birmingham's Cornelius Bennett was seventh in the Heisman voting behind winner Vinny Testeverde of Miami. Bennett enjoyed an outstanding career at Ensley High School and the University of Alabama. He also was one of two players coached by current AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese (Pat White of Daphne was the other). Shorty White also coached two Top 10 finishers (Musso and Sidle) at Banks High School.
• Another Birmingham product was in the Heisman Top 10 in 1987. University of Alabama running back Bobby Humphrey was 10th in the Heisman race won by Notre Dame wide receiver Tim Brown. Humphrey prepped at Glenn High School in Birmingham.
• David Palmer, another Birmingham city product who prepped at Jackson-Olin High School, was the University of Alabama's highest finisher ever in 1993 (until Mark Ingram took home the top prize in '09). Palmer, a wide receiver and key member of the Tide's 1992 National Championship team, finished third behind Florida State's first Heisman winner Charlie Ward. Palmer is the state's only Prep Mr. Football winner to finish in the Heisman's Top 5 vote.
• Hewitt-Trussville High School's Jay Barker, who quarterbacked more wins than any other quarterback in UA history (until Greg McElroy broke that mark in 2010), was fifth in the Heisman voting behind winner running back Rashaan Salaam of Colorado.
• There was a long drought after Barker's finish. The next Alabama prep standout to finish among the nation's top vote-getters in the Heisman Trophy race was Philip Rivers of Athens High School, a prep senior in 2000 who enrolled in college in January of his senior year. The North Carolina State quarterback was seventh in the 2003 Heisman vote. He has now developed into one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL and is one of four Alabama natives to take snaps as an NFL quarterback this season. The others include: Tarvaris Jackson (Sidney Lanier High School and Minnesota Vikings), Joe Webb (Wenonah High School and the same Vikings) and Brodie Croyle (Westbrook Christian High School and the Kansas City Chiefs).
STATE ALSO HAS RICH DIVISION II AWARD HISTORY
Alabama has also had one home-grown Harlon Hill Award winner – NCAA Division II's Heisman Trophy. Ronald McKinnon of Elba High School and the University of North Alabama, was the Harlon Hill winner in 1995 before embarking on a very successful NFL career. Will Hall, an Amory (Miss.) prep standout, also won for UNA in 2003. A.J. Milwee of Boaz High School and UNA was second in the voting in 2008.
It is also important to note that the Division II Player of the Year Award is named for Hill, who prepped at Florence High School before playing collegiately at Florence State (now UNA) and playing for a decade in the NFL.
