White’s focus on team

Oklahoma quarterback Jason White said he does not aspire to win a second Heisman Trophy this season. He simply wants to help the Sooners win championships.

When it comes to winning two Heisman trophies, history is stacked against OU’s sixth-year senior. Ohio State’s Archie Griffin is the only player to win consecutive Heismans. Others were plagued by injuries, some chose other pursuits, and a few just had bad luck.

“It never entered my mind about trying to win a second one,” said former Oklahoma running back Billy Sims, who won the Heisman as a junior in 1978. “As an athlete, you just try to perform up to your ability, and usually everything else will fall into place.”

Sims rushed for 1,670 yards and scored 23 touchdowns as a senior. But he finished second in the 1979 voting to Charles White of Southern Cal, who had 2,050 yards and 19 touchdowns. To this day, he’s not sure why. But Sims questions whether the voters, who are scattered all over the country, would select the same player two years in a row.

“If he can duplicate what he did last year and they go 12-0, to me that’s another Heisman winner,” said Sims, now a Dallas resident and Heisman voter.

Army’s Felix “Doc” Blanchard was the first underclassman to win college football’s biggest individual award in 1945. But Blanchard suffered a torn knee ligament in the 1946 season opener against Villanova. He finished fourth in the voting.

SMU’s Doak Walker won the Heisman in 1948 after helping the Mustangs finish 9-1-1. He, too, suffered an early-season injury a year later. Walker also fought the flu and dysentery before suffering a bruised leg against Notre Dame. He wound up third in the voting after SMU went 5-4-1.

During the 1980s and ‘90s, six players won the Heisman as underclassmen and turned pro. BYU’s Ty Detmer returned to college as a senior and finished third in the voting.

White, 24, wants to lead OU back to the Big 12 and Bowl Championship Series title games, in which the Sooners stumbled last season. His hunger for a championship ring outweighs his desire for another bronze statue.

“The Heisman is in the past,” White said. “It’s a great honor, and I’m very honored to have one. Next year is a different story.”

Enjoy it while it lasts

White met several Heisman winners at the trophy presentation in New York last December. Several former players told White that he wouldn’t fully appreciate the award until his football days are over.

At the time, White had not announced whether he would return for another season, despite the fact that Oklahoma officials had already applied for his medical redshirt.

If he had made up his mind, White wasn’t telling anybody. He just enjoyed the moment.

He is fully aware that he’s already earned a special place in NCAA history.

“I don’t think any player is out to win the Heisman,” White said. “They’re out to win championships, and some players are lucky enough to be tossed on the ballot.”

After the Heisman ceremony, White appeared on “The NFL Today” on CBS and the ESPN morning show “Cold Pizza.” White was named honorary citizen of the year in Tuttle, Okla., his hometown, and had his high school jersey retired.

OU media relations officials are already tossing around ideas to promote White for a second Heisman. White isn’t particularly interested in hyping himself, though.

Kenny Mossman, OU’s media relations director, approached White after practice during training camp with some ideas.

“He said, ‘I don’t even want to hear about that right now,’ ” Mossman said.

Heisman winners can’t resist NFL’s lure

Underclassmen who win the Heisman have been jumping into the NFL draft.

Oklahoma State junior Barry Sanders won the 1988 Heisman Trophy after rushing for 2,628 yards and 39 touchdowns, both NCAA records. Sanders petitioned NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle to let him into the 1989 draft. OSU was on NCAA probation, and as one of 11 children, he felt compelled to help his family monetarily. The NFL relented and allowed Sanders to become the first true junior to become draft eligible.

Georgia junior Herschel Walker, the 1982 Heisman winner, avoided a legal dustup with the NFL by signing with the now-defunct U.S. Football League.

In 1989, Houston’s Andre Ware won the Heisman as a junior and jumped into the 1990 NFL draft. Michigan’s Desmond Howard (1991), Colorado’s Rashaan Salaam (1994) and Michigan’s Charles Woodson (1997) all won the Heisman with one year of eligibility remaining and decided to take their games to the NFL.

Healthy legs, open mind

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Chuck Long stopped by the trainer’s office one day during the summer and checked on White’s health. Trainers told Long that White was able to do anything the coaches asked.

“I couldn’t remember the last time I heard that,” Long said.

Probably, it was 2000 when White was a sophomore. He suffered season-ending knee injuries in 2001 and 2002.

Long plans to open up OU’s playbook this season with rollout plays and use White’s newfound mobility. “We’ve had that, but we had to put some of it on the shelf because of where he was at physically,” Long said.

Breathing down White’s neck

Some OU fans wonder if White is the best quarterback on his own team, much less the best in the nation. Just turn on any afternoon radio talk show and listen.

Perhaps the mobile Paul Thompson, a junior, is better suited for OU’s scheme, they say. Redshirt freshman Tommy Grady (6-7) has the size to look over defenses. Or, fans say, maybe coaches should insert freshman Rhett Bomar of Grand Prairie.

Thompson played in 10 games last season, completed 70.4 percent of his passes and rushed for 183 yards. Bomar was rated one of the five best high school players in the nation by two recruiting services after he threw for 6,097 yards in his career.

OU coach Bob Stoops, however, says he’ll stick with White.

“Everybody’s view of the next guy is always spectacular until they get in there and something goes wrong,” Stoops said. “Then all of a sudden, they realize that it isn’t so easy to do.”