The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is the only football player ever to capture college football’s top individual award twice.
As a star running back for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Archie Griffin claimed the Heisman Trophy during his junior season in 1974 and then was able to repeat the honor the following season.
Griffin joined the Buckeyes for the 1972 season, which happened to be the first in which freshmen were eligible to play varsity football, and made an immediate impact. After fumbling in his only carry of his first game, Griffin more than made up for it in his second game by rushing for 237 yards against North Carolina. By the end of the season, Griffin had rushed for 867 yards.
The December Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is the only football player ever to capture college football’s top individual award twice.
As a star running back for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Archie Griffin claimed the Heisman Trophy during his junior season in 1974 and then was able to repeat the honor the following season. Read the rest of this entry →
Freshman Johnny Manziel claimed the 2012 Heisman Trophy.
The selection of Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel as the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner showed us quite a lot about the evolution of college football.
Freshman Rising – Some may not realize that it was just 40 years ago when freshmen were first allowed to compete on varsity teams. Prior to that, all freshmen competed on what were then known as “freshmen teams” to get accustomed to college life and college athletics. They then had three years of varsity eligibility. Of course, once freshmen were given varsity eligibility in 1972 it started the trend of “redshirting” which has some of the same benefits of the old system in allowing the new student-athlete to get accustomed to college, but does not include the freshman team competition that utilized a year of eligibility. Johnny Manziel is a beneficiary of the redshirt program as he did not walk right off a high school campus this past spring and suddenly develop into the Heisman Trophy winner. Instead, he had a year of seasoning at Texas A&M before being thrust into the spotlight.
Still, that he was able to post such strong numbers playing in the toughest conference in college football as a freshman is a testament to his abilities and the ability of the new coaching staff that came to College Station this season to put him in immediate position to succeed. Read the rest of this entry →
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.
Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.
Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.
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