Chip Hilton Lives
December 16th, 2008“Nice guys finish last.” - Leo Durocher
“Leo the Lip” as he was not so affectionately called, could not have been more wrong. At least not this year.
As football fans watched intently for the results of the 2008 Heisman Trophy voting last Saturday night, the winner had already been determined: us.
Not in years have we been given us three such players to root for. Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy and the recipient of the award, Sam Bradford are throwbacks. Not just in the way they play the game, but in the way they live their lives.
Older reporters at the Heisman ceremony had to pinch themselves, thinking they were in some sort of 1930’s, ’40’s, ’50’s or ’60’s dream, reliving the days of Nile Kinnick, Doak Walker, Pete Dawkins and Roger Staubach. But this was not then, this is now. And these men are the real McCoy, Tebow and Bradford.
All three wowed us on the field with their amazing exploits: Bradford’s 48 touchdown passes, McCoy’s 77% completion rate, and Tebow’s air precision (only 2 interceptions) and ground assault made them the three best players in America.
And winners.
Just one loss marred the season records of each of their teams. If three teams could play in the BCS national championship game (which actually might be better than the current BCS system), these would have been the three; finishing 1-2-3 in all of the polls. Bradford’s Oklahoma Sooners and Tebow’s Florida Gators got the two spots, in a decision that was as hotly debated as the Heisman voting. Any of three there could have won the award, and their play demonstrated that all three were worthy.
More than that, each could have been the model for the Chip Hilton books of the 1950’s. The book series written by late Hall of Fame basketball coach, Clair Bee, depicted a mythical schoolboy athlete who was everybody’s All-American. Great on the field and in the classroom, Chip Hilton was the penultimate hero who threw touchdown passes, kissed his mom, patted the dog and befriended everyone. He was Bee’s ideal for what a scholar-athlete should be.
For decades no one thought Chip Hilton existed, or could exist, in the current landscape of college sports…until this year, when he was resurrected in Tebow, McCoy and Bradford.
Already a legend at the University of Florida, Tebow is the son of Christian missionaries. Rather than hitting the south Florida beaches, he spent his spring break in the Philippines helping doctors perform surgery and sharing his personal story of faith with the masses. Defying the long-held stereotype of the Christian athlete as being soft, he met the press following the team’s upset loss to Mississippi and told them they would never see a player work harder to help his team succeed, nor see a player help push his teammates to be successful. He was right. They hadn’t. His will and his play carried the Gators to the championship game.
McCoy is from Tuscola, TX, population 750. That’s right 750. More people live in his dorm at University of Texas than live in his hometown. The Church of Christ kid has already saved a man from drowning and helped Longhorn fans get over the fact that Vince Young couldn’t continue his professional career at UT. He also dedicated the season to his cousin, Grant Hinds, a marine who passed away after returning from active duty in Iraq.
Bradford is the quarterback who helped Oklahoma shatter the modern single-season scoring record. He is also part Cherokee Indian and has given the Cherokee nation a new role model; and deservedly so. He was self-effacing upon receiving the Heisman. He first thanked God, then his parents, his extended family, his coaches, his teammates, high school coaches, his friends…the equipment manager, the waterboy. It was a remarkable display of selflessness.
John W. Heisman would have stood and cheered had he been there to see it all. What the man who gave the trophy his name would have seen is three young men – each a model of humility, character and goodness. They are three young men who live the Brian Piccolo motto: God is first; others are second; I am third; three men who demonstrate the true heart of a champion by placing team above self, people above possessions, and honor before honors.
It is a dramatic turn from a 30-year period in which the focus was on the individual, who did nothing to discourage drawing attention to himself. The Miami Hurricane teams of the ’80’s, the Boz, Heisman poses, and so many other demonstrations over the years that said “Look at me”, became the norm. When we look at the soap operas that exist at the NFL level today, is there any wonder why?
While the Heisman Trophy is not an indicator of future football success, nor are the runner-up positions, it would be hard to argue these young men have not already achieved an even greater success.
This year, three 21-year olds from “middle America” have changed the landscape. This year, nice guys do finish first.
Chip Hilton lives. And it is great for college football, great for sport in general and great for us.