Hendon Hooker Deserves The 2022 Heisman Trophy
The 2022 Heisman Trophy finalists were announced on Monday and somehow the guy that should win the award wasn’t even invited to the celebration. Somehow Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker was a no-show on the finalists’ ballot and I frankly can’t fathom why.
What’s the argument here against Hooker? That he tore his ACL? Doesn’t that seem a little insane to rob a guy of an award he deserves because he got hurt one week before the end of the regular season? If you want to give the award to Caleb Williams, I totally get it. However, what’s the difference between him and Hooker in terms of a resume? Didn’t Williams end the season in the same fashion? Hurt and off a loss?
I’d make the argument that Hooker was the most important player in the sports toughest conference. A guy that sported a 27-2 TD to INT ratio. That’s with the second best QBR in the country and completing 69.6% of his throws. Add in 430 yards and five rushing touchdowns and at minimum, I can’t quite understand why Hooker wasn’t at minimum invited to the event.
Can we be honest about something? Hey, Stetson Bennett deserves his flowers. Respect where respect is earned. Bennett has turned himself into a legit collegiate starter after really being a no-name walk on. Let’s just be real. He’s only invited because he’s Georgia’s starting quarterback. His raw numbers don’t stack up.
I can go more in depth here but I guess my point here is it just feels wrong that Hooker’s season isn’t being celebrated on the highest stage. This guy was the most electric man in the sport for 90% of the season. Where is the respect? Where is the recognition? I’m not sure I get it.
