Former ISL Editor Chris Goff talks about his Heisman vote
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
Former IndySportsLegends.com writer and editor Chris Goff was among the voters for this year’s Heisman Trophy. He took a moment away from his duties at The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne to do a Q-and-A with ISL on how he cast his Heisman ballot.
Smith: “Thanks for taking the time, Chris. Let’s jump right in to it. How did you vote?”
Goff: “It’s a three-man ballot. Leaving off Clemson QB Deshaun Watson didn’t seem right at all, but they’re adamant about three, so I had Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield third, Alabama halfback Derrick Henry second and Christian McCaffrey of Stanford was my winner. The actual winner, of course, was Henry, with Watson the actual third-place guy.”
Here are some of McCaffrey’s season highlights, from the Pac-12 Network.
Here are some of Mayfield’s highlights, from Oklahoma Sooners:
Smith: “How much did team success impact your voting?”
Goff: “As you can see, of the four primary candidates I considered, three are in the College Football Playoff, and the other is in the Rose Bowl. It’s a factor, though a small one. If you put Ricky Williams, the 1998 Heisman winner, on Northwestern Central Tech, theoretically he’s no better or worse a player. But I think in 2015, one of the reasons these teams were so good was because of the candidates themselves. So that highlighted their excellence, but excellence for this award has to exist on individual level independent of the team.”
Smith: “How did this compare to other years in your eyes?”
Goff: “Well, this was my first as a voter, but it was the closest tally since 2011. And I’d imagine there are not many other years in which one could feel comfortable with four guys winning. Mayfield was great. Watson was great. McCaffrey was great. Henry was great. And great may not be a strong enough word. I made the analogy in a column for my paper that it was like trying to get into an exclusive nightclub that had ruthless bouncers guarding the red carpet. To be considered, these four had a high bar.”
Smith: “Who do you foresee having the best NFL career among them?”
Goff: “Boy, that’s a tough question. Can I phone Bill Polian? Henry’s at worst a second-round draft pick. It’s between Henry and Watson, if we’re talking about this group of four we’ve been discussing. If we expand the field to the periphery candidates, it’s Leonard Fournette. He’s a natural like Adrian Peterson. Henry’s a pretty safe bet, of the four main 2015 Heisman cases. But Watson has time to grow toward his high ceiling.
Smith: “How did this come about where you picked up a Heisman vote?”
Goff: “Bob Hammel, a longtime voter and Midwest regional representative for the Heisman Trophy Trust, reached out to my editor and obtained my contact information. Hammel got in touch with me, and I agreed to assume the responsibility. As Hammel later explained in person, he had decided to retire from voting. I can’t fill his shoes, but I was glad to assist.”
Smith: “What did it mean to you to participate in the process?”
Goff: “It’d be difficult to describe it as anything other than an honor. This is the award in college football, and so though there are many ballots cast, a wide net is needed to get a meaningful sample, because the award means so much to the schools, families, teams and players involved. As a contributor to it all, I tried to weigh the right criteria, deliberate, deliberate some more, crunch numbers and make the best decision I could in an objective manner that treated all players with an open mind and due respect.”
Smith: Last question. So why McCaffrey?
Goff: “I cover Notre Dame, and both McCaffrey and Watson faced the Fighting Irish this year. Watson made big plays against them but played some of his best ball later in the season. And this is not a huge deal, but Notre Dame sold out to stop McCaffrey as much as they did anyone else on the schedule. The way in which he was the focus of their game plan was revealing as to the type of player he was in their mind. He still had 27 carries for 99 yards. And he opened up so much else for Stanford in that game. McCaffrey surpassed Barry Sanders’ NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yardage with 3,496 – and did it on fewer touches than Sanders, who had 3,250 in 1988. He led the Cardinal in catches and receiving yards. The Pac-12 was a very tough league in 2015. McCaffrey was the best player in the country, I thought, but the nice thing about this Heisman race was there were practically no wrong answers.”
