I Still Have My Andre Ware Rookie Card

I have just finished reading a story about Matt Leinart in the September issue of Esquire magazine, and it brought home to me, yet again, how poorly the 1990's has treated Heisman Trophy winners. This holds true especially for quarterbacks. Starting with Andre Ware in 1989, the list of quarterbacks failing to make it in the NFL is nothing short of depressing. Ty Detmer, Gino Torretta, Charlie Ward (who never even bothered coming to the NFL, opting for the safer choice with the Knicks), Danny Wuerffel, Chris Weinke, Eric Couch and Jason White. Only one, Carson Palmer, has succeeded in the NFL. This is the good news for Leinart, who hails from the same program as the Bengal quarterback. The odds, however, seem to favour Heisman winning running backs making the transition. I am not a big college football fan, so I will leave it to others (Abboud) to perhaps explain the phenomenon.