As the college football season comes to an end, the debate of who wins the most coveted award in the sport heats up. What I am speaking of is the Heisman Trophy.

The experts have narrowed the choices down to quarterbacks Peyton Manning, from the University of Tennessee, and Washington State University’s Ryan Leaf. University of Michigan cornerback/wide receiver Charles Woodson has an outside shot of winning, but no defensive player has ever won the award.

Each of the above players has a legitimate right to the award, which will be announced Dec. 13, but is winning the Heisman all that it’s cracked up to be?

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Judging by the NFL performances of recent winners of the award, including 1996 recipient Danny Wuerffel, the so-called best college football player has not been worth the price of admission. Houston Oiler running back Eddie George, the 1995 Heisman winner, is the only trophy winner to experience pro success, as he was named NFL Rookie of the Year last season.

Some might say 1991 winner Desmond Howard could be considered a star after garnering Super Bowl MVP honors last year as a member of the Green Bay Packers. But a guy who came out of the University of Michigan billed as the next Tim Brown is not supposed to be just returning kickoffs.

People seem to forget that Howard was cut by two teams before landing with Green Bay. The Redskins and Jaguars did not want to waste their time on a guy who could not run a basic pass route or read a defense.

Now, Howard has found himself lost in the shuffle with the Oakland Raiders, playing in Brown’s shadow. In a few years, Howard’s name will mentioned in the same category as Timmy Smith and Ickey Woods.

But the Heisman jinx did not begin with Howard. The 1989 winner, Andre Ware, was the first of his kind in recent years.

Ware entered the NFL after breaking virtually every passing record at the University of Houston. Drafted fifth by the Detroit Lions, Ware never developed into the quarterback everyone expected. After an unsuccessful career with the Lions and Minnesota Vikings, where is the exact question I have for Ware.

I guess he’s so bad that not even the Chicago Bears would give him a tryout, and we all know about their quarterback troubles.

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The list goes on.

1992 Gino Torretta, University of Miami quarterback. Drafted by the Vikings.

He has played in two games and completed 5 of 16 passes for 41 yards with one touchdown in his pro career with the Vikings and Seahawks. In 1996, he could not beat out Jeff Brohm for the third-string position for the San Francisco 49ers. The Colts signed Torretta after Jim Harbaugh decided to take up boxing this season. But after the Raging Bull returned, Torretta got the ax.

1990 Ty Detmer, Brigham Young University quarterback. Drafted by the Green Bay Packers.

Detmer broke almost all the passing records Ware set the previous year. This season, he had been battling with Rodney Peete, who finished second in 1989 Heisman voting, for the starting job with the Philadelphia Eagles. But both lost out to an unproven second-year signal caller in Bobby Hoying.

1993 Charlie Ward, Florida State University quarterback.

Ward skipped the NFL entirely and now is the starting point guard with the New York Knicks. To me, the Knicks still have the best quarterback in the Big Apple.

1994 Rashaan Salaam, University of Colorado running back. Drafted by those lovable Chicago Bears.

My personal favorite winner of the award Salaam did have one decent 1,000-yard season (on 500 carries) his rookie year but his fumbling woes have damaged his reputation. I even sent him some Vicks to prevent him from coughing up the ball so much.

A trophy that used to belong to players such as, Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders and Herschel Walker, now does nothing but add suspense to who was going to be the next NFL bust.

So, before you make your picks for this year’s award, think about the names up above. All were on top for one night, but most will be remembered for their lackluster careers in the NFL.