What is the Heisman Trophy?
The Heisman Memorial Trophy is awarded each December to the most outstanding player in American college football. First presented in 1935 by New York's Downtown Athletic Club and named the following year for John W. Heisman, it is now administered by the Heisman Trophy Trust and is the most recognised individual trophy in United States sport.[1] [2]
Who votes?
A national electorate of roughly 870 accredited media voters, distributed evenly across six geographic regions so that no part of the country dominates, together with every living former winner and a single aggregated fan vote. Each voter names three players, ranked, with points weighted three-two-one — which is why the published result carries both a points total and a first-place count.[1] [3]
Who won it most recently?
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the 91st Heisman Trophy on 13 December 2025, with 2,362 points and 643 first-place votes — a decisive margin over Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia (1,435) and Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love (719). Mendoza is the first Heisman winner in Indiana's history.[2] [4]
Why does it matter?
Because the field is every player in NCAA football — tens of thousands of athletes across more than a hundred and thirty Division I programmes — and one of them is named each year by a fixed, published, national electorate that has operated continuously since 1935. Few honours in any sport combine that size of field with that length of record.[1] [2]
References
- The Heisman Trophy — official site. Accessed August 2026.
- Heisman — Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza wins 2025 Heisman Trophy. Accessed August 2026.
- Sports Reference — 2025 Heisman Trophy voting. Accessed August 2026.
- NCAA.com — Indiana's Fernando Mendoza wins 2025 Heisman Trophy. Accessed August 2026.