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Heisman Trophy: 5 Biggest NFL busts since 2000

By Cody Williams

SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 20: Quarterback Johnny Manziel #2 of the Cleveland Browns leaves the field after a football game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on December 20, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks won the game 30-13. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - DECEMBER 20: Quarterback Johnny Manziel #2 of the Cleveland Browns leaves the field after a football game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on December 20, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. The Seahawks won the game 30-13. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Sam Bradford Rams (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
Sam Bradford Rams (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

The 20th Heisman Trophy winner since 2000 will be handed out on Saturday but that award does not guarantee NFL success, as these busts will tell you.

There’s no debate that the Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college football. However, there’s also no debate that it does not guarantee success at the NFL to win the award. In fact, you could make a strong argument that, especially in the last 25 years or so, more Heisman winners have failed to live up expectations at the pro level than not.

Tim Tebow and Jameis Winston are two of the biggest names that come to mind when you think about Heisman busts. And while they certainly did not (or have not) lived up to the hype that surrounded them, the fact is that Tebow won a playoff game with the Denver Broncos while Winston is still putting up gaudy yardage and touchdown numbers.

Beyond that, there are some former winners that don’t qualify as busts in the truest sense. Guys like Chris Weinke, Eric Crouch, Troy Smith and Jason White may not have amounted to anything in the NFL but they were never high-end NFL prospects to begin with. So it’s hard to hold them to that level of expectations.

With all of that in mind, let’s take a trip down memory lane — or at least recent memory lane — as we look at the biggest busts of the 21st century Heisman Trophy winners.

5. Sam Bradford – 2008 Heisman Winner

After reaching the pinnacle of college football in the 2008 season with the Oklahoma Sooners, Sam Bradford returned to school for the 2009 campaign but a shoulder injury largely derailed his hopes of becoming a repeat winner. The injury, however, did not stop the then-St. Louis Rams from selecting him with the first overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Bradford, however, never became the superstar quarterback that the Rams hoped he’d be. Between injuries and inconsistent performance on the field, the Oklahoma product just never was able to put it all together — even if teams continued to pay him to be that guy time and again despite evidence that it would never happen.

As recently as the 2018 season, Bradford was on an NFL roster still cashing big paychecks. However, it’s clear that Sammy Sleeves will never live up the fanfare that he had coming out of college as the 2008 season’s top player.

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