[1][2] The award was given its name in 1936 after the death of the club's athletic director John Heisman and broadened to include players west of the Mississippi.

The trophy itself, designed by sculptor Frank Eliscu, is modeled after Ed Smith, a leading player in 1934 for the now-defunct New York University football team.

[10] Eliscu had asked Smith, his former George Washington High School classmate, to pose for a commissioned sculpture of a football player.

Four wide receivers have been named winner: Tim Brown (1987), Desmond Howard (1991), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Travis Hunter (2024).

Legendary linebacker Dick Butkus placed sixth in 1963 and third in 1964 and could qualify as an interior lineman, as he played center on offense during his era when two-way players were still common.

Also, Kurt Burris, a center for the Oklahoma team, was a runner-up for the award in 1954 and Orlando Pace finished fourth in 1996 as an offensive tackle for Ohio State.

Eight players have finished in the top three as freshmen or sophomores but never won a Heisman: Clint Castleberry, Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Rex Grossman, Larry Fitzgerald, Adrian Peterson, Deshaun Watson, and Christian McCaffrey.

Four players have specifically finished second in consecutive years: Glenn Davis (second in 1944 and 1945, winner in 1946), Charlie Justice (second 1948 and 1949), Darren McFadden (second 2006 and 2007), and Andrew Luck (second 2010 and 2011).

The award was first presented in 1935 by the Downtown Athletic Club (DAC) in New York City, a privately owned recreation facility located on the lower west side near the later World Trade Center site.

[19] The first African American player to win the Heisman was Syracuse's Ernie Davis, who never played a snap in the NFL.

[8] Yale end Larry Kelley sold his 1936 Heisman in December 1999 for $328,110 to settle his estate and to provide a bequest for his family.

[8] The current record price for a Heisman belongs to the trophy won by Minnesota halfback Bruce Smith in 1941 at $395,240.

[8] Paul Hornung sold his Heisman for $250,000 to endow scholarships for University of Notre Dame students from his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

[8] Due to the neighborhood housing the Downtown Athletic Club's facilities becoming blockaded after the attacks on 9/11, the 2001 award ceremony was moved to the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

[24] After Palladium Times Square (then PlayStation Theater) closed in December 2019, the Heisman Trust began searching for a new location to conduct the trophy presentation.

The ceremony usually aired on ABC as a feature at halftime of the last major national telecast (generally a rivalry game) of the college football season.

[citation needed] The most watched Heisman ceremony ever was in 2009 when Mark Ingram won over Toby Gerhart and Colt McCoy.

[28] Broadcasters include:[citation needed] A number of critics have expressed concern about the unwritten rules regarding player position and age, as noted above.

[citation needed] Over the years, there has been substantial criticism of a regional bias, suggesting that the Heisman balloting process has ignored West Coast players.

[30] In the 20 seasons between 1981 (Marcus Allen) and 2002 (Carson Palmer), not a single Pacific-10 Conference or other West Coast player won the Heisman Trophy.

Kalani Simpson of Fox Sports wrote, "Nice try Heisman Trust...It's a slick move to try to wipe the slate clean."

[34][35][36][37] On April 24, 2024, the Heisman Trust announced the formal reinstatement of Reggie Bush's trophy amid what it called "enormous changes in the college football landscape".