It’s been a week since the award ceremony, but the Heisman Trophy debate rages on. The last time people were this shocked by a Heisman snub was in 2015, when Derrick Henry was given the coveted college football trophy over Christian McCaffrey, who had better stats. This time around, Travis Hunter’s win over Ashton Jeanty has led to a similar uproar.
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And Cam Newton thinks the same factor was at play in both Jeanty’s snub now, and CMC’s miss nine years back. Media visibility, according to Newton, was the culprit.
Henry, who played for Alabama back then, received more prime-time coverage and media time than McCaffrey. In the Jeanty-Hunter media clout tussle, the Colorado Buffs star was the clear winner right through the season. This across both traditional as well as social media.
“Ashton Jeanty got CMC-ed. The same thing happened to Christian McCaffrey.” said Newton. “Christian McCaffrey had better stats than Derrick Henry that year. The difference was that Henry played for the University of Alabama, which garners more TV time. By the time Ashton Jeanty was done playing, most people were in their REM sleep.”
Colorado also had more eyeballs on them thanks to Deion Sanders. And Hunter became a media darling due to his close relationship with Coach Prime. Of course, his two-way capabilities was also a factor.
Boise State, on the other hand, as Newton pointed out, is just not on the same level when it comes to ruling the airwaves. However, Jeanty had made a huge difference for the Broncos this season.
Opposing defenses were continuously pointing the barrel at him, and still he managed to excel in each and every game. Jeanty delivered exceptional performances, registering one of the most statistically impressive offensive seasons in college football history.
Anyone who watched a Broncos game this season would readily agree that they would have not reached the College Football Playoff without Jeanty in the backfield. The only problem, it seems, is that not many people were watching.