The idea of an award to the most outstanding college football player was originally conceived by members of the Downtown Athletic Club, formerly located in the southern end of Manhattan. Renowned for its devotion to sports, members of the Downtown Athletic Club appointed a Club Trophy Committee charged with conducting the first award presentation at the conclusion of the 1935 football season.
| YEAR |
NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
CLASS |
POINTS |
| 1935 |
Jay
Berwanger |
Chicago |
RB |
Sr. |
84 |
| 1936 |
Larry Kelley |
Yale |
END |
Sr. |
219 |
| 1937 |
Clint
Frank |
Yale |
QB |
Sr. |
524 |
| 1938 |
Davey
O'Brien |
TCU |
QB |
Sr. |
519 |
| 1939 |
Nile
Kinnick |
Iowa |
RB |
Sr. |
651 |
| 1940 |
Tom
Harmon |
Michigan |
RB |
Sr. |
1,303 |
| 1941 |
Bruce
Smith |
Minnesota |
RB |
Sr. |
554 |
| 1942 |
Frank
Sinkwich |
Georgia |
RB |
Sr. |
1,059 |
| 1943 |
Angelo
Bertelli |
Notre
Dame |
QB |
Sr. |
648 |
| 1944 |
Les
Horvath |
Ohio
State |
QB |
Sr. |
412 |
| 1945 |
Doc
Blanchard |
Army |
FB |
Jr. |
860 |
| 1946 |
Glenn
Davis |
Army |
RB |
Sr. |
792 |
| 1947 |
John
Lujack |
Notre
Dame |
QB |
Sr. |
742 |
| 1948 |
Doak
Walker |
Southern
Methodist |
RB |
Jr. |
778 |
| 1949 |
Leon
Hart |
Notre
Dame |
E |
Sr. |
995 |
| 1950 |
Vic
Janowicz |
Ohio
State |
RB |
Jr. |
633 |
| 1951 |
Dick
Kazmaier |
Princeton |
RB |
Sr. |
1,777 |
| 1952 |
Billy
Vessels |
Oklahoma |
RB |
Sr. |
525 |
| 1953 |
John
Lattner |
Notre
Dame |
RB |
Sr. |
1,850 |
| 1954 |
Alan
Ameche |
Wisconsin |
FB |
Sr. |
1,068 |
| 1955 |
Howard
Cassady |
Ohio
State |
RB |
Sr. |
2,219 |
| 1956 |
Paul
Hornung |
Notre
Dame |
QB |
Sr. |
1,066 |
| 1957 |
John
David Crow |
Texas
A&M |
RB |
Sr. |
1,183 |
| 1958 |
Pete
Dawkins |
Army |
RB |
Sr. |
1,394 |
| 1959 |
Billy
Cannon |
Louisiana
State |
RB |
Sr. |
1,929 |
| 1960 |
Joe
Bellino |
Navy |
RB |
Sr. |
1,793 |
| 1961 |
Ernie
Davis |
Syracuse |
RB |
Sr. |
824 |
| 1962 |
Terry
Baker |
Oregon
State |
QB |
Sr. |
707 |
| 1963 |
Roger
Staubach |
Navy |
QB |
Jr. |
1,860 |
| 1964 |
John
Huarte |
Notre
Dame |
QB |
Sr. |
1,026 |
| 1965 |
Mike
Garrett |
USC |
RB |
Sr. |
926 |
| 1966 |
Steve
Spurrier |
Florida |
QB |
Sr. |
1,679 |
| 1967 |
Gary
Beban |
UCLA |
QB |
Sr. |
1,968 |
| 1968 |
O.J.
Simpson |
USC |
RB |
Sr. |
2,853 |
| 1969 |
Steve
Owens |
Oklahoma |
FB |
Sr. |
1,488 |
| 1970 |
Jim
Plunkett |
Stanford |
QB |
Sr. |
2,229 |
| 1971 |
Pat
Sullivan |
Auburn |
QB |
Sr. |
1,597 |
| 1972 |
Johnny
Rodgers |
Nebraska |
RB |
Sr. |
1,310 |
| 1973 |
John
Cappelletti |
Penn
State |
RB |
Sr. |
1,057 |
| 1974 |
Archie
Griffin |
Ohio
State |
RB |
Jr. |
1,920 |
| 1975 |
Archie
Griffin |
Ohio
State |
RB |
Sr. |
1,800 |
| 1976 |
Tony
Dorsett |
Pittsburgh |
RB |
Sr. |
2,357 |
| 1977 |
Earl
Campbell |
Texas |
RB |
Sr. |
1,547 |
| 1978 |
Billy
Sims |
Oklahoma |
RB |
Jr. |
827 |
| 1979 |
Charles
White |
USC |
RB |
Sr. |
1,695 |
| 1980 |
George
Rogers |
South
Carolina |
RB |
Sr. |
1,128 |
| 1981 |
Marcus
Allen |
USC |
RB |
Sr. |
1,797 |
| 1982 |
Herschel
Walker |
Georgia |
RB |
Jr. |
1,926 |
| 1983 |
Mike
Rozier |
Nebraska |
RB |
Sr. |
1,801 |
| 1984 |
Doug
Flutie |
Boston
College |
QB |
Sr. |
2,240 |
| 1985 |
Bo
Jackson |
Auburn |
RB |
Sr. |
1,509 |
| 1986 |
Vinny
Testaverde |
Miami
(Fla) |
QB |
Sr. |
2,213 |
| 1987 |
Tim
Brown |
Notre
Dame |
WR |
Sr. |
1,442 |
| 1988 |
Barry
Sanders |
Oklahoma State |
RB |
Jr. |
1,878 |
| 1989 |
Andre
Ware |
Houston |
QB |
Jr. |
1,073 |
| 1990 |
Ty
Detmer |
Brigham
Young |
QB |
Jr. |
1,482 |
| 1991 |
Desmond
Howard |
Michigan |
WR |
Jr. |
2,077 |
| 1992 |
Gino
Torretta |
Miami
(Fla) |
QB |
Sr. |
1,400 |
| 1993 |
Charlie
Ward |
Florida
State |
QB |
Sr. |
2,310 |
| 1994 |
Rashaan
Salaam |
Colorado |
RB |
Jr. |
1,743 |
| 1995 |
Eddie
George |
Ohio
State |
RB |
Sr. |
1,460 |
| 1996 |
Danny
Wuerffel |
Florida |
QB |
Sr. |
1,363 |
| 1997 |
Charles
Woodson |
Michigan |
CB |
Jr. |
1,815 |
| 1998 |
Ricky
Williams |
Texas |
RB |
Sr. |
2,355 |
| 1999 |
Ron
Dayne |
Wisconsin |
RB |
Sr. |
2,042 |
| 2000 |
Chris
Weinke |
Florida State |
QB |
Sr. |
1,628 |
| 2001 |
Eric
Crouch |
Nebraska |
QB |
Sr. |
770 |
| 2002 |
Carson
Palmer |
USC |
QB |
Sr. |
1,328 |
| 2003 |
Jason
White |
Oklahoma |
QB |
Jr. |
1,481 |
| 2004 |
Matt
Leinart |
USC |
QB |
Jr. |
1,325 |
| 2005 |
Reggie
Bush |
USC |
RB |
Jr. |
2,541 |
| 2006 |
Troy
Smith |
Ohio
State |
QB |
Sr. |
2,540 |
| 2007 |
Tim Tebow |
Florida |
QB |
Soph. |
1,957 |
