The lone Heisman Trophy winner from South Carolina went on to assist lead the Washington Redskins to their second Super Bowl victory in 1987. Due to injuries, he had to quit soon after. Allen was the first athlete in NCAA history to carry for more than 2,000 yards in a season, and he earned the Heisman Trophy in 1981. He had also been selected first overall by the New York Jets in the 1982 NFL Draft.
South Carolina's all-time leading rusher has not been crowned national champion. However, Marcus Lattimore (2012) and Alvin Kamara (2018) were both voted onto the All-America Team at their positions.
In addition to being named the nation's top player, Johnny Unitas Award, Marcus Lattimore was also chosen as the 2012 College Football Player of the Year by the Associated Press. In 2018, Alvin Kamara became the first player since 1958 to be unanimously selected as the AP Player of the Year.
South Carolina has never had a Heisman Trophy winner but they have had two players go close. In 1974, Charlie Justice finished third behind Larry Smith and Jerry Rice. In 1980, Marcus Allen finished sixth with John Elway winning the award.
Allen is the only player to have won the Heisman Trophy, an NCAA national title, the Super Bowl, and been awarded NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP. In 2000, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and in 2003, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Allen played in 79 games and started 76 of them. He was selected to seven all-star games and earned First Team All-Pro honors in 1973.
After his death in 1999, it was discovered that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease associated with repeated head injuries. CTE has been diagnosed in multiple athletes since then.
During his career, Allen suffered at least 52 blows to the head. He had four children and was married for ten years before divorcing after two marriages.
He died at the age of 47 in an airplane crash near Santa Monica, California. The cause of the accident was never determined.
Today, the award is given out annually to the best college football player in the country. The trophy is called the Heisman Memorial Trophy and is sponsored by the New York based retailing company that created the first Heisman Prize. The award ceremony is held each year in New York City on Saturday night during the first week of December.
George and Marcus Allen are the only Heisman Trophy winners who did not play quarterback and scored multiple touchdowns in a Super Bowl game. Howard joined the Packers in 1996 after four dismal seasons in the NFL and quickly established himself as the league's most dangerous return specialist.
Howard joined Marcus Allen, Jim Plunkett, and Roger Staubach as Heisman Trophy winners who also happened to be Super Bowl MVPs. When the Redskins won Super Bowl XXII, Rogers was in the final year of his seven-year NFL career. In the Redskins' 42-10 win over the Denver Broncos, he had five carries for 17 yards.
Marcus Allen is the only player to have won a Heisman Trophy, a national college football championship, a Super Bowl, a Super Bowl MVP award, and the NFL MVP award (though not in the same season as the Super Bowl). Leinart is one of five Heisman Trophy winners who were on Super Bowl teams but did not play in the game. The others are Jim Plunkett, Ron Dayne, Ricky Williams, and Marcus Allen.
In fact, no Heisman Trophy winner has ever gone down in defeat. They're all victorious after their games have been finished. And none of them dropped back to pass late in their games either.
The last player to win all three awards in the same year was Charles White from Texas Christian University. He did so in 1954. Since then no one has been able to do it again because everyone knows what happens in the Super Bowl has nothing to do with how good your regular season was. It's more about which team makes some bad calls go their way or uses their time off the field to practice together.
White still holds many NCAA records including most yards rushing in a season (3201) and most points scored (1166).
Here's how he did it: winning the Heisman Trophy, making the All-American team, and being selected first overall by the Chicago Bears in the 1955 NFL Draft. He went on to have a very successful career in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams.
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