College Football's coveted Heisman Trophy will be handed out next Saturday. In light of this, NFL.com's Jim Reineking put together his list of the NFL's top ten all time Heisman Trophy winners. Keep in mind, these are not simply the top ten best Heisman Trophy winners. These are those Heisman winners who saw the most success at the NFL level.
Reineking points out that -- as most of us well know -- winning the Heisman in no way equals NFL success, adding that there are more Heisman winners to go undrafted (15) than there are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (8).
The number ten player on his list is one man who is NOT in the Hall of Fame, but probably should be...
10. Tim Brown
Given the name "Mr Raider" he went to 9 Pro Bowls over his NFL career. He was the 1987 Heisman winner out of Notre Dame and was chosen by the Raiders in the first round of the draft. He spent the first 16 of his 17 NFL seasons with the Raiders and started on their 2002 Super Bowl squad.
Making up the last two on the list is another Raider and the only current NFL player in the top ten...
9. Charles Woodson
Ten years after Tim Brown took home the hardware, Woodson became the only ever primarily defensive player to win the Heisman. He too was chosen by the Raiders in the first round of the draft where he spent the first eight years of his Hall of Fame career and returned to Oakland after seven seasons in Green Bay to finish his career where it began. He is also the only current NFL player on the list. He is the NFL's active leader in interceptions (59) by a large margin. He is also the Raiders 2014 season leader in interceptions (3).
Moving up the list, you scroll a while before reaching the next former Raider. It goes like this...
8. Doak Walker
7. Earl Campbell
6. Tony Dorsett
5. Paul Hornung
4. O.J. Simpson
And cracking the top 3 of the NFL's all time best Heisman Trophy winners is...
3. Marcus Allen
The only of the Raiders on this list to currently have a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Allen held up the trophy in 1981 out of USC. He exploded onto the NFL scene, winning Rookie of the Year along with being named Super Bowl MVP. He went on to become a six-time Pro Bowler.
The list rounds out with the final two
2. Roger Staubach
1. Barry Sanders
In total, the Raiders have had seven Heisman Trophy winners. The others were Billy Cannon, Jim Plunkett, Bo Jackson, and Desmond Howard.
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