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Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, taking college football's top individual prize Saturday night after a record-breaking debut.
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o finished a distant second and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein was third in the voting. In a unique Heisman race, with two nontraditional candidates, Manziel broke through the class barrier and kept Te'o from becoming the first purely defensive player to win the award.
Manziel drew 474 first-place votes and 2,029 points from the panel of media members and former winners.
"I have been dreaming about this since I was a kid," he said
Manziel seemed incredibly calm after his name was announced, hardly resembling the guy who dashes around the football field on Saturday.
Te'o had 321 first-place votes and 1,706 points and Klein received 60 firsts and 894 points.
Just a few days after turning 20, Manziel proved times have truly changed in college football, and that experience can be really overrated.
For years, seniors dominated the award named after John Heisman, the pioneering Georgia Tech coach from the early 1900s. In the 1980s, juniors started becoming common winners. Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win it in 2007, and two more won it in the next two seasons.
Adrian Peterson had come closest as a freshman, finishing second to Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart in 2004. But it took 78 years for a newbie to take home the big bronze statue. Johnny Football really can do it all.
Peterson was a true freshman for Oklahoma. As a redshirt freshmen, Manziel attended school and practiced with the team last year, but did not play in any games.
He's the second player from Texas A&M to win the Heisman - John David Crow took it home in 1957 - and did so without the
Who needs hype when you can fill-up a highlight reel the way Manziel can?
With daring dashes and elusive improvisation, Manziel broke 2010 Heisman winner Cam Netwon's Southeastern Conference record with 4,600 total yards, led the Aggies to a 10-2 in their first season in the SEC and orchestrated an upset at then-No. 1 Alabama in November that stamped him as legit.
He has thrown for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns and run for 1,181 yards and 19 more scores to become the first freshman, first SEC player and fifth player overall to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a season.
Manziel has one more game this season,
Year - Name, School, Position, Class, Points
1935 - Jay Berwanger, Chicago, RB, Sr., 84
1936 - Larry Kelley, Yale, END, Sr., 219
1937 - Clint Frank, Yale, QB, Sr., 524
1938 - Davey O'Brien, TCU, QB, Sr., 519
1939 - Nile Kinnick, Iowa, RB, Sr., 651
1940 - Tom Harmon, Michigan, RB, Sr., 1,303
1941 - Bruce Smith, Minnesota, RB, Sr., 554
1942 - Frank Sinkwich, Georgia, RB, Sr., 1,059
1943 - Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame, QB, Sr., 648
1944 - Les Horvath, Ohio State, QB, Sr., 412
1945 - Doc Blanchard, Army, FB, Jr., 860
1946 - Glenn Davis, Army, RB, Sr., 792
1947 - John Lujack, Notre Dame, QB, Sr., 742
1948 - Doak Walker, Southern Methodist, RB, Jr., 778
1949 - Leon Hart, Notre Dame, E, Sr., 995
1950 - Vic Janowicz, Ohio State, RB, Jr., 633
1951 - Dick Kazmaier, Princeton, RB, Sr., 1,777
1952 - Billy Vessels, Oklahoma, RB, Sr., 525
1953 - John Lattner, Notre Dame, RB, Sr., 1,850
1954 - Alan Ameche, Wisconsin, FB, Sr., 1,068
1955 - Howard Cassady, Ohio State, RB, Sr., 2,219
1956 - Paul Hornung, Notre Dame, QB, Sr., 1,066
1957 - John David Crow, Texas A&M, RB, Sr., 1,183
1958 - Pete Dawkins, Army, RB, Sr., 1,394
1959 - Billy Cannon, Louisiana State, RB, Sr., 1,929
1960 - Joe Bellino, Navy, RB, Sr., 1,793
1961 - Ernie Davis, Syracuse, RB, Sr., 824
1962 - Terry Baker, Oregon State, QB, Sr., 707
1963 - Roger Staubach, Navy, QB, Jr., 1,860
1964 - John Huarte, Notre Dame, QB, Sr., 1,026
1965 - Mike Garrett, USC, RB, Sr., 926
1966 - Steve Spurrier, Florida, QB, Sr., 1,679
1967 - Gary Beban, UCLA, QB, Sr., 1,968
1968 - O.J. Simpson, USC, RB, Sr., 2,853
1969 - Steve Owens, Oklahoma, FB, Sr., 1,488
1970 - Jim Plunkett, Stanford, QB, Sr., 2,229
1971 - Pat Sullivan, Auburn, QB, Sr., 1,597
1972 - Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska, RB, Sr., 1,310
1973 - John Cappelletti, Penn State, RB, Sr., 1,057
1974 - Archie Griffin, Ohio State, RB, Jr., 1,920
1975 - Archie Griffin, Ohio State, RB, Sr., 1,800
1976 - Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh, RB, Sr., 2,357
1977 - Earl Campbell, Texas, RB, Sr., 1,547
1978 - Billy Sims, Oklahoma, RB, Jr., 827
1979 - Charles White, USC, RB, Sr., 1,695
1980 - George Rogers, South Carolina, RB, Sr., 1,128
1981 - Marcus Allen, USC, RB, Sr., 1,797
1982 - Herschel Walker, Georgia, RB, Jr., 1,926
1983 - Mike Rozier, Nebraska, RB, Sr., 1,801
1984 - Doug Flutie, Boston College, QB, Sr., 2,240
1985 - Bo Jackson, Auburn, RB, Sr., 1,509
1986 - Vinny Testaverde, Miami (Fla), QB, Sr., 2,213
1987 - Tim Brown, Notre Dame, WR, Sr., 1,442
1988 - Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State, RB, Jr., 1,878
1989 - Andre Ware, Houston, QB, Jr., 1,073
1990 - Ty Detmer, Brigham Young, QB, Jr., 1,482
1991 - Desmond Howard, Michigan, WR, Jr., 2,077
1992 - Gino Torretta, Miami (Fla), QB, Sr., 1,400
1993 - Charlie Ward, Florida State, QB, Sr., 2,310
1994 - Rashaan Salaam, Colorado, RB, Jr., 1,743
1995 - Eddie George, Ohio State, RB, Sr., 1,460
1996 - Danny Wuerffel, Florida, QB, Sr., 1,363
1997 - Charles Woodson, Michigan, CB, Jr., 1,815
1998 - Ricky Williams, Texas, RB, Sr., 2,355
1999 - Ron Dayne, Wisconsin, RB, Sr., 2,042
2000 - Chris Weinke, Florida State, QB, Sr., 1,628
2001 - Eric Crouch, Nebraska, QB, Sr., 770
2002 - Carson Palmer, USC, QB, Sr., 1,328
2003 - Jason White, Oklahoma, QB, Jr., 1,481
2004 - Matt Leinart, USC, QB, Jr., 1,325
2006 - Troy Smith, Ohio State, QB, Sr., 2,540
2007 - Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Sop, 1,957
2008 - Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, QB, Sop, 1,726
2009 - Mark Ingram, Alabama, RB, Sop, 1,304
2010 - Cam Newton, Auburn, QB, Jr., 2,263
2011 - Robert Griffin III, Baylor University, QB, Jr., 1,687
2012 - Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M University, QB, Freshman
