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Winning the Heisman Trophy is the pinnacle of college football. Those who do so are often earmarked for higher success.
But very few players can keep up the success of the Heisman Trophy in their professional years. In fact, there have been many notable failures; it is easier to count the number of successes instead.
There have only been nine Heisman Trophy winners who then went on to win the NFL MVP award, the latest being Lamar Jackson. But even among them, players such as Cam Newton cannot necessarily be called unqualified successes.
Then there were others who were Super Bowl MVPs, such as Jim Plunkett, who did not show the consistency needed to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It is very difficult to weed out Heisman winners who did live up to their expectations. We will look at five such players who can definitely be considered in that category.
5 Heisman winners who reached the zenith of the NFL
#5 - Paul Hornung, RB
To classify Paul Hornung as just a running back is to do a disservice to the variety of positions he could play on the football field, including quarterback, halfback and placekicker. Legendary coach Vince Lombardi called him the best player he had ever coached.
Paul Hornung won the Heisman Trophy in 1956. He was drafted first overall in 1957, becoming the first Heisman Trophy winner to bag that award.
He made it to the Pro Bowl in 1959 and 1960, and in 1961 he was named the NFL MVP. He won four NFL Championships with the Green Bay Packers and won the first Super Bowl with them as well.
He ended his career with 50 rushing touchdowns and 12 receiving touchdowns and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
#4 - Roger Staubach, QB
Roger Staubach is a legend in so many different ways. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1963, but instead of going directly to the NFL after being drafted in 1964, he served in the U.S. Navy until 1969.
He joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969 and led them to five Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl VI and XII and being named Super Bowl MVP in the former.
He made it to six Pro Bowls in his 11-year career and was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.
He finished his career with 22,700 passing yards and 153 touchdowns.
A trio of Heisman-winning running backs
#3 - Earl Campbell, RB
Earl Campbell won the Heisman Trophy with the Texas Longhorns in 1977 and was picked up by the Houston Oilers in the 1978 draft. In each of his first three seasons, he won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.
In 1978, he was named Rookie of the Year, which he followed up with the NFL MVP award in 1979, having rushed for the most yards and scored the most touchdowns. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.
He was named to the Pro Bowl five times and was the rushing yards leader from 1978 to 1980 and the rushing touchdowns leader from 1979 to 1980. Both the Tennessee Titans, the current iteration of the Houston Oilers, and the Texas Longhorns have retired his jersey number.
#2 - Marcus Allen, RB
Marcus Allen won the Heisman Trophy in 1981 and entered the NFL with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1982 as the 10th overall pick of the draft. He would become a crucial part of the franchise's success in the ensuing years.
He won the Super Bowl XVIII and was named the MVP in that game.
After following that up with an NFL MVP award in 1985, he became the first, and so far only, player to win the Heisman Trophy, NFL MVP Award, Super Bowl MVP award, NCAA College Championship and the Super Bowl. For his exploits with the Raiders and later the Kansas City Chiefs, he was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
#1 - Barry Sanders, RB
We end the list of Heisman Trophy winners who lived up to expectations with arguably the greatest running back of the modern era, Barry Sanders. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1988 and entered the league with the Detroit Lions as the 3rd overall pick in the NFL Draft in 1989.
He played his entire career for the Detroit Lions.
In his 10 seasons in the NFL, he was named to the Pro Bowl every single season. He rushed for a total of 15,269 yards, with an average of more than 1500 yards each season.
In 1997, he was named the NFL MVP for rushing for more than 2000 yards and becoming just the third player to do so. His jersey number 20 has been retired by the Detroit Lions and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
