Congratulations to Troy Smith.

Terry O'Keefe · Dec 9, 2006

He had the 3rd biggest vote total of all-time, and the 2nd biggest margin of victory, only OJ Simpsons MOV was greater. He wasn't the favorite to start the year, but he seized his opportunity in Texas and never looked back.

I was surprised that Quinn finished behind Darren McFadden, not because McFadden is not a great RB but because I figured that competition from Slaton and Syndey Rice would sort of dilute his appeal as the best RB in college football.

No one certainly would have predicted this for Smith when he signed as a recruit. I'm sure all the Ohio State fans had him ticketed for WR or DB and Justin Zwick for the Heisman potential. That's what great about college football, stars rise from the darndest places sometimes.

Terry

Terry O'Keefe · Dec 9, 2006

Thought I'd toss this article from the SBT in for some insight in what it's like to be in the fish bowl that is Big Time College Football. It's not for the faint of heart.

Quinn odyssey nears its finale
With just a Heisman ceremony and BCS game to go, Brady Quinn's haze of hype begins to fade away.

FOOTBALL: COLLEGE

ERIC HANSEN
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- It was a Heisman campaign without a Web site, without a gimmick. In fact, there wasn't even a budget.

And Saturday night, it will end for Brady Quinn without a trophy.

The Notre Dame senior quarterback will likely stand and applaud, just like everyone else in the Nokia Theatre at Times Square in New York, when Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith walks away with the 72nd Heisman Trophy in a walkover.

And the long, twisted ride will finally come to an end.

"You know what a lot of people don't realize?" said Quinn's uncle and business adviser David Slates, who has had a front-row seat for his nephew's confrontation with the both the hype of and the hits on his reputation.

"They don't realize how much respect Brady and Troy have for each other. They rise above all this rabid-fan stuff that goes back and forth. It's kind of like two boxers who, after they beat the hell out of each other, hug in the ring because those are the only two guys in the building who really know what they're going through."

So little of what Quinn -- who did capture the Maxwell Player-of-the-Year Award Thursday night in Orlando --went through this season ever made it into print or video. But it's not like he had many private moments, either.

Even after the Irish home games, in the rented house that Quinn and teammate Chinedum Ndukwe hoped to turn into a sanctuary of sorts, friends of friends lingered deep into the night, acting like tourists, mugging for pictures with Quinn, asking him to sign just one more item.

"He's handled a lot of things with a pretty good deal of grace," Slates said. "You would have liked him to have some kind of haven where he could just be Brady. I guess it comes with the territory, but it's just so bizarre. It's just so weird.

"I mean I have clients that come to me all the time wanting something signed. Finally, I had to tell people, no, that Brady doesn't mind doing it, but it was starting to affect my relationship with him. I mean, at my house, I have a roomful of crap that people want signed. I'm afraid to have him over to the house."

Yet in those signatures, comes a clue to how Quinn has handled the tremendous buildup and the subsequent dissection of his worthiness or lack thereof regarding college football's -- and perhaps all of sports' -- most celebrated individual prize.

Since his freshman season, Quinn has always included a Bible verse with his signature. This season, he's taken a verse from Proverbs.

"Our family isn't 'in-your-face Christians' -- not that there's anything wrong with that," Slates said. "It's kind of a private relationship with God that he's not trying to sell anybody else. But it's a relationship Brady takes very seriously.

"I really think it's helped him deal and cope with being in the spotlight, positively and negatively. And his spirituality has served him well, I think, because it allows him to find a place where he can put things back into perspective, where he isn't the center of the universe. There's something bigger."

From an early age, Quinn constantly showed Slates that he was more serious, more driven and had a deeper sense of purpose than most of his peers.

"When he was 5 years old, he had this piggy bank," Slates said. "And Robin (Quinn's mom) wanted to borrow like $20 to go to the grocery store, and Brady got all stressed out. He was like, 'If you keep borrowing money from my piggy bank, I'm not going to be able to go to college.' This is a 5-year-old. He was already focused on the prize at that age."

Focus saved Quinn's sanity during the Heisman race, but it couldn't control the insane direction it would take. Perhaps 10 years ago, Quinn would have benefited greatly from the name recognition and the publicity his fourth-place finish in 2005 delivered.

Not in the overprocessed, Web-driven, up-to-the-minute-updates-on-your-cell-phone era. In fact, Notre Dame had to be careful in its strategy not to create a backlash of bad publicity by appearing publicity-hungry, so the passive approach made most sense. But the preseason glut of Quinn magazine covers came anyway.

"He didn't ask for this. We never put him out there," Notre Dame senior associate athletic director John Heisler said. "It happened all by itself. We didn't create all the magazine covers. It was based on his credentials and the team's credentials."

But when Notre Dame lost to Michigan by 26 at home early in the season, Quinn was cast by many members of the media as overrated and undeserving.

Quinn's family heard it weekly in the stands, even the stands in ND Stadium. Slates said Robin Quinn even went so far as to take preemptive strikes.

"She would say, 'The quarterback's my son, and he's going to do some bad things today,' " Slates related. " 'But you might want to remember I'm sitting right here.' "

For a while, every time there was a Quinn slam somewhere in the media, Slates and Quinn's parents would get phone calls. And because they all live in the Columbus, Ohio, area, the negatives literally hit close to home.

"After a while, some of it actually did get amusing," Slates said. "Thank God Brady doesn't have time to watch GameDay on ESPN and see all the different signs people would be holding up behind Lee Corso. There were some funny ones about Brady's sister and ones questioning Brady's sexuality. Eventually, it all just becomes a blur."

Quinn didn't even talk to his own family about what a Heisman Trophy would have meant to him, but he does talk about the disappointment of not leading the Irish into the national championship game.

"His life will change forever after Jan. 3," Slates said, referring to the date the 11th-ranked Irish play No. 4 LSU in the Sugar Bowl. "He'll be getting ready for the NFL Draft, and more scrutiny and more attention -- and probably more people wanting his autograph."

But the things that won't go away are the losses this year and how they gouged Quinn's most-coveted goals.

"The rest of the world doesn't see how much it hurts him, but I do," Slates said. "And I hurt for him. But there's a lot of great things that have happened to him, too.

"You just hope like hell Brady and the guys can beat LSU, but that is such a challenge. I still think these guys, this program is a little over its head when you just talk about physical matchups. That's not how they look at it, though. They're trying to find a way to get it done.

"I think the thing that Brady wanted to be remembered for was being one of the guys who brought Notre Dame back. Up to this point, I don't think you can say that. He's helped turn the ship around and send it in the right direction. But until you go to a BCS bowl game and beat an elite team, you're not all the way back. That's what Brady wants more than anything. And that's still within his reach."

Staff writer Eric Hansen:
ehansen@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6470
Click to expand...

Gator Bill · Dec 9, 2006

Congratulations to Troy!

Now may he have the same luck in the BCS game as last years winner! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Gator Bill

Don Ballard · Dec 10, 2006

Little did Buckeye fans realize what they had with Troy's commitment.

Brady Quinn has has a great career at ND.

Both young men are class acts and will make tons of money in the NFL.

Congratulations to both.

Don

Bobdawolverweasel · Dec 10, 2006

I'm glad to see Smith win the Heisman. After watching him break my heart three years in a row, I certainly feel he well deserved the honor.

Quinn had a great college career and is a player with great skill, leadership, and toughness.

May the Gods of Fate shine upon both their futures by not having these classy kids get drafted by the Detroit Lions.

Stu Ryckman · Dec 10, 2006

Better for them the Lions than my Browns, I fear.

Terry O'Keefe · Dec 11, 2006

The things that I noticed watching the Heisman Show was..

1. Troy was humble and well spoken
2. Some of the getups that the previous winners wore were hard to look at.
3. How small Troy looked standing next to Brady Quinn.
4. I wondered if he could be another Drew Brees, who is also barely 6'.

Stu Ryckman · Dec 11, 2006

Drew Brees, who is having a monster year.

Terry O'Keefe · Dec 11, 2006

Watching Drew carve up the Cowboys made me think of Troy. I can't remember was Drew a 1st round draft pick?

Stu Ryckman · Dec 11, 2006

He was the first pick of the second round...33rd overall.

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