ND has defeated Stanford, Oklahoma, and Michigan. They’re ALL still in the top 20 in the BCS standings. Additionally, they beat Michigan State when they were ranked 10th. ND has probably beaten more bowl teams this year than any team in the country. And they never played any girl’s schools or community colleges like A&M did. ND beat the PAC 12 champion AND the Big 12 champion. Everytime they turned around they were playing a top 20 team and often on the road.

Manziel put up video game numbers. He’s good. And he also played a couple of patsies to get there. He led his team to defeat in two of their three biggest games.

I think this vote is a no-brainer. Many of the no-brain people have proven it with their comments here.

Manti is the only choice.

Nor would I agree that “tasted alcohol”, as you put it, is anywhere close to what a freshman with multiple fake ID’s that get’s drunk and arrested in a bar fight does. There’s your Johnny football…

And I’ve already gone on record to say that I wouldn’t back an Irish player with a history to Johnny Fake ID Football.

Johnny Fake ID is a great ball player. And from the sounds of it, he’d be a good guy to cover your back if you were in a rowdy bar with a bunch of guys with fake ID’s. He’s probably a lot of fun at a party. Better send somebody else to get the beer though.

I doubt very much that Manti was cruising around with a bunch of fake ID’s and avoiding the cops when he was a freshman.

Integrity still matters to me. It’s a shame you gave up on it somewhere along the way and convinced yourself that it doesn’t matter.

They are both correct even though one game is boring while the other game brims with excitement.

It’s clear if Manti was playing for Ohio State, Michigan or USC he would win the award going away. Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s about politics. If you go 6-6 as a team and two of those wins come against 1-AA teams you are not allowed to play in a bowl game. So I say….If you want to be eligible for the Heisman you can’t be arrested five months before the award is handed out and all your stats from the 1-AA games are not counted. The Heisman has become a joke and no ND player will ever win it again. They will always get blocked. Rece Davis will be happy because he can keep bringing up how long it’s been still.

Notre Dame wins the NC this year and next year too, over Ohio State. You think beating Saban and shutting up the barbarian horde of SEC fans will be gratifying? Imagine how good it will feel to win another one, over a coach who’s named after a Pope and whose team’s fans rival even SEC fans in abrasiveness and absurdity.

I mean seriously!? What can you expect? It’s not like he could rally his team to keep the other team from scoring when they’re 6 inches from the goal line. It’s not like he could do that in more than one game. I mean really! What’s he going to do, keep them undefeated while having impeccable integrity? Oh wait, there is one guy that did that….

hang on, I’ll be back later…

1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.

3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship’s hull.

The only possible use of “integrity” in the context of a Heisman candidate is #1. If carrying fake ID’s so that you can engage in planned, illegal, underage drinking isn’t the polar opposite of “integrity”, then I don’t know what is.

Your argument that David Ubben doesn’t care and that many feel the same way, is obviously true and the sole reason for my post. If you’re saying that you don’t care if the winner has character and integrity, then just say it. But don’t redefine a simple word to change the definition of what the award is given for.

And don’t go giving me the crap about domers having trouble with it. If it bothers you that domers expect a Heisman candidate to have integrity, then I guess you just don’t get it.

I for one, would have said the same about Michael Floyd last year or guys like Tommy Rees this year. They just don’t deserve the Heisman award (no matter what their on-field performances are like) if they don’t have integrity. Why did they take Bush’s back? Because he didn’t have integrity. Nothing he did at U$C gave him some unfair competitive advantage. He didn’t cheat. He just lacked integrity. If Manziel plans illegal activities and has a small collection of fake ID’s to help him carry them out, he doesn’t have integrity. period.

There are almost 1,000 voters involved in the Heisman award and I’m afraid you’re right. Many don’t care or even talk about integrity. Most don’t even seem to know it was included in the intent and honor of the award. Hence my post.

Manti deserves it for his play alone. Integrity just eliminates guys like Manziel for me.

I’m on record as saying I don’t give a fig about the Heisman, but the PR machines that are pumping Manziel up are irritating.

Maybe TX will secede before it’s announced and we’ll be done with him

Give the award then let’s get back to football

I have commented here before, to a torrent of boos, that I think the deification of Manti is over the top. He’s a great player, a very fine young man and a leader of men and he will be missed next year. But I think that Manti himself is probably a little embarrassed at the non stop attention he’s received, as he seems like a humble, team-first kinda’ guy.

I’m sure Manti Te’o is a fine young man – a credit to his family and to the university. I’m equally sure that there are a whole lot of people out there like him who labor under incredibly difficult circumstances that no one notices.

It should be noted that it is named after the man – John Heisman – who in October of 1916 coached Georgia Tech to the single worst defeat of another team in college football history. Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland College by the score of 222-0.

Let me repeat – John Heisman was the Georgia Tech coach on the day Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland College 222-0. For that reason alone I don’t think it is any great honor to win it. Add to that the full out publicity assault by the world class Notre Dame publicity machine, aided and abetted by legions of grads, current students and ND wannabes, and the current atmosphere that seems to want to canonize this fine young man, and the cumulative effect to a grumpy old cynic like me is disquieting.

To sum up – I hope someone else wins the damn trophy and I hope ND wins the National Championship.

The unquestioned leader of this Defense both physically and spiritually is their man in the middle who has put this program on his broad shoulders and willed it back to the top of College football.

There are many great players every year, there are few legends that will endure like Manti Te’o

I feel bad for Notre Dame fans. All this hype, keep thinking you are good, and will be embarrassed in the national title game by the SEC champion.

As for character, check out this story from a mother of a child with muscular dystrophy about Manziel.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=2217177&forum_id=5

That’s the same thing as saying the UCLA Bruins should dominate college basketball because they did it under Wooden. They got one championship in the 90′s and haven’t been back since. I’m not saying that’s going to happen with the Irish, but I’m fearful that, if they don’t win it this year, Notre Dame might not get another chance for a while. For us younger folks, this season is a bit of an anomaly. Hopefully, it isn’t.