UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel is hoping Gatorade Player of the Year winner and Bruin recruit Malcolm Jones is the key to turning his program around. The award has become a sort of high school Heisman, but even these players aren’t a sure thing. In honor of signing day, we look at the past winners of the Gatorade POY Award, grade their college football careers and find out where they are now.
1986: Jeff George (Purdue, Illinois)
George led the Illini to two bowl appearance and a second place finished in the Big Ten in 1989, before going No. 1 overall in the 1990 draft. After a contemptuous career in the NFL, George was essentially forced out of the league in 2001. Oddly, at 41, he was still contemplating a comeback last year while residing in Indianapolis. College Grade: B+
1987: Emmitt Smith (Florida)
Emmitt Smith earned SEC and National Freshman of the Year Honors during his first season in Gainesville. He was also named SEC Player of the Year and an All-American during his final season as a junior. I think we all know where he went from there. Today Smith is retired in Dallas. College Grade: A
1988: Curtis Bray (Pittsburgh)
Curtis Bray was a stud coming into Pittsburgh after becoming the first defensive player to win this award. He notched 170 career tackles with the Panthers, but probably could’ve done more damage had he not suffered a series of injuries in school. Today he’s the defensive ends coach for Iowa State. College Grade: C-
1989: Terry Kirby (Virginia)
Terry Kirby’s senior season was supposed to be his breakout year, but he separated his shoulder and missed three games instead. Despite the injury, he still ran for 1,130 yards (6.5 yards per carry) that season. After an 11-year NFL career, Kirby co-founded Touchdowns4Life Charter School and serves on its board of directors. He also hosts an annual celebrity charity golf event to help the school, held in South Florida. College Grade: B+
1990: Robert Smith (Ohio State)
Robert Smith didn’t mess around when it came to being a student-athlete. In between two 1,000-yard rushing seasons, he sat out a year because he claimed a coach told him to miss class. The time off didn’t hurt his draft stock too much (21st overall pick in the 1993 draft). He retired abruptly from the Minnesota Vikings in 2000, pursuing a career in medicine while serving as a college football analyst for ESPN. College Grade: A-
1991: Marquette Smith (Florida State, Central Florida)
After transferring from Florida State, Marquette Smith made himself right at home, rushing for 1,511 and 1,058 yards in 1994 and 1995. He’s the only Central Florida running back to gain 1,000-plus yard seasons back-to-back, and was inducted to the school’s Hall of Fame in 2005. Injuries in back-to-back preseasons cut his NFL career short. He is now an assistant at Trinity Prep high school outside Orlando. College Grade: B
1992: Chris Walsh (Miami, Minnesota)
Chris Walsh had major shoes to fill when he went to Miami. His brother, Steve Walsh, went 27-1 as a starter and won the 1987 national championship under Jimmy Johnson. Chris couldn’t live up to that name and transferred back home to Minnesota. He now works for a roofing company in Minneapolis. College Grade: F
1993: Ron Powlus (Notre Dame)
Beano Cook predicted he’d win two Heismans, but his career never panned out that well. He still put up good numbers behind center, setting 20 school records when he left. He passed for 7,602 yards and 52 touchdowns in his career. Powlus had recently been the quarterbacks coach under Charlie Weis. After the regime change, he is now the quarterbacks coach at Akron. College Grade: B
1994: Peyton Manning (Tennessee)
Peyton Manning. Heard of him? Manning became Tennessee’s all-time passing leader with 11,201 yards and 89 touchdowns over four years. During his senior season he won just about every award he could except the Heisman, which went to Charles Woodson. The only two knocks on his college career is a 0-3 record vs. Florida and no national championships. He turned out OK as a pro. College Grade: A
1995: Brock Huard (Washington)
Brock Huard followed his brother Damon to Washington and his first nine starts were great (8-1). But the next three seasons were mostly disappointing. Despite a record-setting career, Huard never helped Washington reach the ranks of college football’s elite. Today he does some color work for ESPN and has a sports talk radio show in Seattle. College Grade: C+
1996: Tim Couch (Kentucky)
The high school legend began to shine after Kentucky fired Bill Curry and brought in Hal Mumme and his “Air Raid” offense. During his sophomore season, Couch led one of the top offenses in the country to a 5-6 record and took the Cats to the Outback Bowl as a junior. The No. 1 overall pick of the 1999 draft, his NFL career became a mess – he was out of the league after just five seasons. Today he’s currently an analyst for Kentucky Wildcat football games and married to Playboy playmate Heather Kozar. College Grade: A-
1997: Travis Minor (Florida State)
Minor was the leading rusher all four of his seasons in Tallahassee, finishing his career with 3,218 yards on 664 carries with 28 touchdowns. He was Second Team All-ACC his senior season and won a national championship in 1999. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 2001 and last played with the St. Louis Rams in 2008. College Grade: B+
1998: Ronald Curry (North Carolina)
He outshined nearby Michael Vick in high school but was unable to crossover that dominance on campus. Curry was prolific behind center however, setting records for most career passing yards and most career total yards. He was named bowl MVP in 1998 (Las Vegas) and 2001 (Peach). He also played basketball alongside teammate Julius Peppers. In the NFL, Curry became a receiver but had limited success. Cut by the Rams in September, he’s still looking for a roster spot as a free agent. College Grade: B
1999: Chris Lewis (Stanford)
Lewis’ career was a constant roller coaster ride between the field and the sidelines. He never started more than half of the games he appeared in, but sometimes showed moments of brilliance throughout his career. He earned a spot on the Arizona Cardinals after graduation but never saw the field. After one more season in NFL Europe, Lewis called it quits. He’s now a real estate broker in Long Beach. College Grade: C
2000: Brock Berlin (Florida, Miami)
After transferring from Florida, Brock Berlin got the best and worst from Hurricane fans – even being benched during the 2003 season. But overall Berlin was solid, posting a 5-0 record against arch-rivals Florida and Florida State and winning two bowl games (Orange and Peach). Berlin went undrafted and bounced around the NFL. He was cut by the Lions in September. College Grade: B-
2001: Joe Mauer
Baseball fans may not know that Joe Mauer had a football scholarship to play QB at Florida State. Instead, Mauer went the baseball route. It’s safe to say he made the right choice as reigning AL MVP. College Grade: Incomplete
2002: Lorenzo Booker (Florida State)
Lorenzo Booker’s career at Florida State was uneventful. During his three seasons, he amassed 2,056 yards on the ground with 12 touchdowns. He also hauled in 95 receptions for 909 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad – unless you were being billed as the next Barry Sanders. He was drafted by the Dolphins but played just two seasons in the NFL, his last team being the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009. College Grade: C+
2003: Kyle Wright (Miami)
Wright went into Miami expecting to be another quarterback in a long line of successful signal caller, but injuries and mediocre play haunted him during his career. After getting benched his senior year, he finished out his career at the top of the depth chart. He went undrafted in 2008 and most recently cut by the 49ers before the ‘09 season. College Grade: C-
2004: Jeff Byers (USC)
Jeff Byers career wasn’t a straight line thanks to two seasons lost due to injury. But he played well enough along the offensive line when he was healthy to earn All-PAC-10 second team honors in 2008 and was selected Second Team All-American by Rivals.com in 2009. He’s currently projected as a seventh round draft pick for the 2010 draft. College Grade: B-
2005: Greg Paulus (Duke, Syracuse)
Greg Paulus received football scholarships from Miami and Notre Dame. But chose to go to Duke where he’d take over the role as “most hated man in America” after J.J. Redick. He played football at Syracuse this season thanks to an odd NCAA rule but threw more picks than touchdowns. Granted, this is the Orange we’re talking about. He is projected to go undrafted. College Grade: D
2006: Mitch Mustain (USC)
Mitch Mustain compiled an 8-0 record as a freshman with Arkansas, but was relieved of his starting duties near the end of the season. He eventually transferred to USC. He’s been buried on the bench since. College Grade: D
2007: John Brantley (Florida)
No quarterback will have bigger shoes to fill than John Brantley, who has to follow the four-act saga that was the Tim Tebow story in Gainesville. The good news for Gator fans: Brantley holds the Florida high school record for most career touchdown passes (99), which was previously held by Tebow. Maybe it’s a good sign? College Grade: Incomplete
2008: Matt Barkley (USC)
Even at USC, a freshman quarterback is still a freshman quarterback. At times Matt Barkley showed flashes of greatness (against Ohio State) and moments of being a freshman (3 INTs against Stanford). He ended on a high note with 350 yards and 2 touchdowns against Boston College in the Emerald Bowl. There’s still a long way to go for his final grade. College Grade: B+
2009: Garrett Gilbert (Texas)
Gilbert got a rude introduction to college football after Colt McCoy left the BCS National Championship Game on the second series due to injury. He started off shaky but kept the Longhorns in the game despite being overmatched offensively. His comeback wasn’t enough, but Gilbert has a bright future ahead of him. College Grade: B+
Got a question or comment? E-mail us here
Liked this story? Click here for Lost Lettermen’s RSS feed and receive all our great content
Click here to start contributing to our wiki database of over 150,000 former college athletes and help us answer the question, “Where Are They Now?”
10 Comments
You heard it here first: Gilbert will be BETTER than Colt Mccoy
pretty generous grade for kyle wright. he was supposed to lead the U to Natis
It would be fairly easy for Gilbert to be better than Colt. Colt’s success had more to do with the people around him than his own skill. The dude almost lobbed a pass out of bounds a second too long to miss a national title shot for cripe’s sake.
I’m pretty sure Ronald Curry and Mike Vick were in the same class. Therefore, it would’ve been hard for RC to be the next MV.
You should have included a list of ‘could have been’, other front-runners for the award who actually had better collegiate careers.
“Instead, Mauer went the baseball route instead.” Nice sentence.
Is your list based on what you read or what you have seen?
You give Brock Huard a C+ because he couldn’t get UW among College Football’s elite despite “records” he set. Then immediately following you practically ball-wash Tim Couch because of his 5-6 record and OUTBACK bowl appearance. Sounds like someone’s SEC homering is affecting his list.
Joe Mauer deciding to go with MLB instead of playing for FSU is what started the Noles downfall. Coming off a National Title and Heisman Trophy with Chris Weinke, FSU was then forced to use Chris Rix at QB instead. While he was a decent player, Rix is not on Mauer’s planet athletically. So while his grade here is “Incomplete”, Mauer’s impact to college football was huge. Had he went to FSU, it’s very likely they would not have spiraled to the point they are now.
Colt McChoke
Posted February 3, 2010 at 1:35 pm | Permalink
“It would be fairly easy for Gilbert to be better than Colt. Colt’s success had more to do with the people around him than his own skill. The dude almost lobbed a pass out of bounds a second too long to miss a national title shot for cripe’s sake.”
Really… The most accurate single season passer in CFB history, the most wins in CFB history, holds most Texas QB records, 3 and 1 as a starter in BCS games, and one of the toughest SOB’s ever to play the position!!!! Colt is a natural born winner. As for your “almost” argument, he almost led his team to back to back MNC game appearances. A last second miracle in Lubbock cost him that opportunity. You should become a fan of table tennis, as you obviously are clueless about football.
Colt can thank his lucky stars he was put out early because the Bama D had his number.
Yes he broke many records by playing most if not all games against vastly worse teams…….
One Trackback
[...] as time will tell, whether these stud high-schoolers pan out is anyone’s guess. A look at the last 25 Gatorade Players of the Year in high school shows some mixed results, to people playing in the Super Bowl this weekend (Peyton [...]