NEW YORK, 15 December 2003 — Oklahoma University quarterback Jason White won the 69th Heisman Trophy as the “outstanding college football player in the United States” on Saturday.
White, a senior at the college, collected the prestigious annual award at a ceremony at the Yale Club in New York after topping the polling with 1,481 points.
Pittsburgh’s second year wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was runner-up with 1,353 points, while Eli Manning, the Mississippi quarterback and brother of Indianapolis Colt Peyton Manning, finished third with 710 points. The last of the four finalists, Michigan running back Chris Perry, registered 341 points. White’s victory completed a significant personal comeback for the 23-year-old, who had suffered career-threatening cruciate knee ligament injuries in both 2001 and 2002 seasons.
“After what I have been through, it is such an honor,” White told reporters.
White threw for 3,744 yards with 40 touchdowns and eight interceptions over the regular season, helping Oklahoma to the National Bowl Championship Series title game against Louisiana State on Jan. 4.
His Heisman bid was, however, weakened by his poor performance in the last game of the regular season with the Big 12 championship on the line when he threw two interceptions in a 35-7 loss to Kansas State.
The fact that a certain number of ballot papers were returned before the defeat undoubtedly helped his cause, although White argued on Saturday that the award should not be decided on one game.
His winning margin over Fitzgerald — a slim 128 points — highlighted the Pittsburgh wide receiver’s outstanding season.
The 20-year-old sophomore caught 87 passes for 1,595 yards and 22 touchdowns on an inconsistent Pittsburgh team.
Fitzgerald also set a new NCAA record for touchdowns in consecutive games —18 dating back to last season — and will come under pressure to skip the last two years of college and enter the 2004 NFL draft.
“I thought I did all I could to win this trophy,” he told reporters.
