The 925 ballots for the 2010 Heisman Trophy were mailed Monday from New York. The voters, mostly journalists, have until Dec. 6 to return the ballot, although in recent years the vast majority have been submitted online.
The three-week period between mailed and submitted ballots has traditionally been a time for Heisman voters to ruminate over the leading contenders, especially as they watched pivotal late-November games.
But in this college football season, there is one runaway contender in the Heisman Trophy chase: Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. And while voters will closely watch Newton’s final games against Alabama and South Carolina, they are also keeping a close eye on a news story that is changing almost daily.
Federal, state and N.C.A.A. investigators are looking into Newton’s recruitment a year ago because of allegations that he was being shopped to Mississippi State for a six-figure amount. There are also news reports that Newton left Florida in 2008 because of three instances of academic cheating.
Although there is a great deal of uncertainty about the outcome of the investigations and how long they will take, interviews this week with a cross section of Heisman voters have made three things evident:
If the vote were held this week, Newton would be the likely winner by a substantial margin.
A growing sector of the voters, however, is increasingly troubled by the reports about Newton and probably won’t vote for him unless he is exonerated before Dec. 6. If additional damaging reports about Newton surface in the next two weeks, this sector of voters will expand; many voters said they were waiting for more information before making a final decision.
Reggie Bush’s unprecedented forfeiture of his 2005 Heisman in September is weighing heavily on the minds of voters, who are nervous about awarding another Heisman that could be revoked in the future.
Full Story: Cam Newton allegations complicate Heisman Trophy voting – The New York Times