If you give two damns about college football, you'll know what I'm talking about in regards to this title.
Hell, you see a lot of this in your daily lives - people being influenced by the groups around them. It may be a decision that the person in question doesn't really believe in but they make it anyways - at the risk of looking like a dissenter. No one wants to be cast as the outsider who doesn't believe what his or her group is thinking.
And here we are, the topic of conversation: The Heisman Trophy.
I never understood why the Heisman Trophy was so popular - still don't. After all, how often does "the most outstanding collegiate football player" (which is the definition of the Heisman winner) actually win the award? I guess you have to define "outstanding".
Is it "most outstanding" to win a high profile game against Alabama, run up your stats against inferior competition, and struggle against other teams who are considered high profile (LSU/Florida)? If so, the projected winner Johnny Manziel is your guy.
Is it "most outstanding" to have your team go 12-0 and advance to the BCS championship game as you lead your defense with your tremendous play to the second-best scoring average in college? If so, Manti Te'o is your guy.
Or is it "most outstanding" to be the leader of an offense who scored 37 TDs (passing & rushing) and was a bad game against Baylor away from being in the championship game against Notre Dame? If so, Collin Klein is your guy.
Ever since Manzeil's Texas A&M squad beat Alabama last month, he's been all but enshrined as the 2012 Heisman winner. It's as if his mediocre games against other SEC squads (LSU/Florida) didn't matter or didn't count.
On the opposite end, Klein was the odds-on favorite for a while, and with good reason. A few games away from perfection, Kansas State's loss against Baylor pushed Klein down the Heisman stairs, as if what he did to tear defenses up before then didn't matter one lick.
Te'o is the only guy on an undefeated team in the running, and has been a great player in his own right.
But are any of these guys really the "most outstanding" or are these guys (especially Manziel) the products of "groupthink"?
After all, ESPN and other media outlets shove these guys (like Johnny Football) down your throats, making you believe that the only game he played was against Alabama. And don't get me wrong - he did excellent in that game. But is one game worth a Heisman? It is to the voters, who are suckers to what they've seen most recently, which apparently is the new definition for "most outstanding".
If we're looking at most outstanding, shouldn't we look at what Marquis Lee did for USC? Or does his performance mean nothing because he played on an under-achieving team that was penciled in for a BCS bowl before the season started?
If I were going to vote strictly on the final three candidates, I'd probably go Klein, Te'o and then Manziel. Klein shouldn't be penalized for losing one game (hell, Manziel's squad lost two).
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