Heisman Day is Here

Heisman Day is here and the Cherokee Nation is proud and flinging that laced pig to the Heisman podium.....

He's only a small part Native American but that doesn't matter to many in the state of Oklahoma. The Cherokee Nation is proud of one of their own as he prepares to step onto a stage unlike any other. This one-sixteenth Cherokee Indian is the favorite tonight to take home the Heisman hardware

Where Sam Bradford will wind up in Native American lore or rank among the greats of Indian blood in the state is yet to be decided. The list is lengthy but begins with the one and only, Jim Thorpe, whom for all his greatness, Bradford has zero chance of passing.

Two of the many, many things that make Bradford someone all Oklahomans should root for are that he represents that connection between our state and its reputation-Native American heritage. And that he's the first QB from OKC to start at QB for OU.

One other note that will become fact.  Bradford is expected to become the first QB in OU history to take a snap, much less become a starting QB in the NFL in the modern era.

That's almost as stunning as the fact that Bob Stoops and Co. have taken a position that should have been stacked with star players when he arrived in 1999, but was full of incomprehensible inadequacy-QB-and thrust it into the nation's spotlight. Now it is cool to be the Oklahoma QB again. And you don't have to be a 210 pound halfback taking snaps in the wishbone to gain fame.

Star prepsters dream of being part of the OU style of 21^st century Stoops-ball...and flinging the laced pig all over the lot. Heupel, White, Bradford. Flingers. Stars. Heisman finalists. Champions.

One of the reasons we believe Bradford will win the Heisman is the fact that he will appear on more ballots than anyone else. More importantly, he should appear first or second more than Tim Tebow or Colt McCoy. And there's the distinct possibility that he will have more firsts as well, but he doesn't have to achieve that to win. It's not a popular vote. It's points for first, second and third. And being no lower than second on a majority of ballots is significant enough that in a tight race it could mean the difference between first and second.

Is there a better chance Sam Bradford goes pro if he wins the Heisman? I don't think so. Is there a better chance he goes pro if wins the Heisman and his Sooners win the national championship. Even Bradford is human. If it's a close decision I would think it would sway him to come out early. Personally, I feel he has a much better chance of winning tonight than OU does on January 8 against Florida in the BCS title game.

I'd rather have a nasty disease that cannot be killed by the strongest dose of penicillin than have my cell phone go out in NYC. FYI, I'm either headed to the nearest phone center or to a penicillin clinic.

In the central time zone (CT) we use midnight as a time that's considered ‘getting kind of late.' Always wonder up here in the ET zone if midnight is as late to them. Their ten o'clock news begins at eleven. Their Yankees baseball games end at 1am and their alarm clocks still go off at 7am.

Whatever the time, The Big Easy....the QB who never gets rattled and stands tall in the pocket....Sam Bradford has sweaty palms right now. He's hours away from likely walking off with the most prized hardware in all of sports.