Tennessee Football: 10 Vols Who Were Robbed of Postseason Awards in School History

Nov 15, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) before the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

3. Peyton Manning

Year: 1997

Award: Heisman Trophy (Best Player)

Winner: Charles Woodson, Michigan Wolverines

We have now reached the Heisman robberies. Four Tennessee Vols have been up for Heisman Trophies in Tennessee football history. Three of them were robbed. (Spoiler Alert: Heath Shuler was not robbed).

Let’s start with Peyton Manning.

In a year in which the college football voters changed everything about the criteria of a Heisman Trophy winner, Peyton Manning became the victim. He bored voters by being the season-long favorite.

Up until that point, voters rewarded the best player of the year, and despite Manning putting up far better numbers than previous quarterbacks, the voters decided to make the case that he should not win the Heisman because he did not lead his team to an undefeated season. Never mind that so many other players have won the Heisman without that criteria, including Eddie George two years before.

All of a sudden, the media needed a sexy pick, and they found one in Charles Woodson. Woodson rode the wave of Michigan’s national title season all the way to being the first cornerback to ever win the award. To be fair, Woodson is a great player and has had a Hall-of-Fame career.

But he was a cornerback. He should not have won the Heisman Trophy that year. And to this day, it is the only year in which the media switched up the criteria for who should win the coveted award.

The Heisman has become an official joke ever since.

Next: #2: Heisman-Hank Lauricella in 1951