Heisman Hopes WSU Campaign Puts Leaf On Minds Of Trophy Voters
No one can be sure if it will help Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf rake in any extra Heisman Trophy votes, but the Cougars have launched a rather innovative campaign nonetheless.
WSU’s sports information department recently sent out between 600 and 700 envelopes, each containing one tree leaf and nothing else, to members of the media. The envelopes began arriving Monday, and the response appears to be positive.
“My first call came from Birmingham on Monday,” said Rod Commons, WSU sports information director. “They loved it. Everybody who called thought it was just a great idea.”
The Heisman Trophy is awarded each year to the nation’s best college football player, as determined by a panel that includes writers and broadcasters.
Reporters routinely receive Heisman-related propaganda from various universities, but most go unnoticed. If nothing else, WSU’s campaign is sure to stand out.
Even Leaf, who has led the Cougars to a 5-0 start and No. 12 national ranking, found the campaign amusing.
“I come walking into our football office the other day and there’s our secretary with about 500 leaves on her desk, just sitting there, and they were packing them into white envelopes,” Leaf said. “I’m going, ‘Oh my god, they’re doing this all for me, how stupid.’ “But they’re doing it. It’s kind of cool and it’s an honor, but a lot of the attention needs to go to the rest of the team.”
The leaves were collected from WSU’s golf course by members of the sports information staff, Commons said.
The idea behind the campaign dates to 1995, when Leaf was a freshman and starting quarterback Chad Davis was playing poorly.
“We were kind of struggling at the quarterback position and I got an envelope in the mail one day and all it had in it was a leaf,” Cougars coach Mike Price said. “And I thought it was so clever. No one ever owned up to who sent me that leaf, but that was who they felt should be the starting quarterback.”
Could it have been sent by Leaf himself?
“It wasn’t Ryan and it wasn’t his folks,” Price assured.
Despite the campaign, Price and Leaf said the Heisman Trophy has not become an overriding goal. In other words, if the Cougars are having success running the ball, they won’t try to mix in a few extra passes just so Leaf can pad his stats.
With a bye this week, Leaf plans to escape some of the Heisman hype by heading home to Great Falls, Mont.
His younger brother is a senior cornerback for the state’s top-ranked high school team, C.M. Russell. Jeff Leaf has four interceptions in five games, best in the state.
“This will be the first time I ever get to see him play football,” Ryan said. “He’s more of a basketball player. He’s a real good point guard.”
Jeff Leaf is 6-foot-1 and weighs 165. Ryan stands 6-5 and weighs 238.
Brady, the youngest of the Leaf brothers, appears to be taking after Ryan. A seventh-grade quarterback and defensive end, Brady already stands 5-10 and wears size 12 shoes.
“Brady looks exactly like me, and that’s not saying much,” Leaf joked. “Jeff’s the good-looking one - he gets all the girls.
“Brady threw his first touchdown the other day, along with two interceptions, so he’s doing a lot like his older brother.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color photos
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BY THE NUMBERS WSU QB Ryan Leaf through five games: Att. Comp. Yards TDs Int. 163 92 1,553 14 6 Efficiency rating: 157.5