From hand weights sent to the media to billboards plastering Chicagoland, the school's marketing efforts for the Dan Persa's Heisman campaign are at full blast.  Whether or not Persa ends up a strong candidate for the trophy as the season progresses (or even if, given his health, he is able to start for the bulk of the season) is somewhat beside the main point of the campaign.  This is a marketing drive, and-- as such-- it is already a success, much as NU's Wrigley Field venture last year was a success, even before the game began.  Northwestern has generated a fantastic amount of preseason buzz, with quite a lot of it coming at the national level.  The Persa billboard that the school placed in Bristol, CT, just outside of ESPN's headquarters, was an inspired idea.



And, as mentioned on the billboard, NU has launched PersaStrong.com to supplement the Heisman drive.  It is an unprecedented amount of marketing for an NU player. 

The level of marketing is new, but NU has had a Heisman candidate before.  In 2001, coming off the Y2K title, NU did market Damien Anderson for the Heisman, albeit on a much smaller level.  Here is the banner from the HailToPurple page that followed Anderson's 2001 campaign:


That campaign didn't last long: Anderson was injured midway through 2001, and the season was dominated by the fallout from the death of Rashidi Wheeler.  NU's ranking of 14th in the nation by midseason quickly evaporated as the 'Cats fell apart, and the Heisman campaign never really took off.

Of course, there is being a Heisman candidate, and then there is being a Heisman finalist.  We have a long way to go to see if Persa will eventually be a finalist for the award this year, and the likelihood seems somewhat remote.  But if Persa does make it to New York, he'll be the latest of a handful of Wildcats to get the honor of having a place in the Downtown Athletic Club's big vote.  Since HailToPurple.com usually takes a historical perspective of NU football, let's take a look at the team's three past Heisman finalists.


Otto Graham
1943: Third Place

Graham had electrified Dyche Stadium since his 1941 debut, but in his final year as a Wildcat, Graham shattered Big Ten passing records and carried the team to a 6-2 record (losing to #3 Michigan and to Notre Dame, the eventual national champion), good enough for a ninth-place finish in the AP Poll.

Unfortunately, because of the massive national media blitz around Notre Dame's march to the national title, Irish quarterback Angelo Bertalli won the Heisman.  Graham finished third in the voting, the highest finish ever for an NU player.


Darnell Autry
1995: Fourth Place

After Graham, Northwestern had to wait a generation to get another Heisman finalist, despite such greats as Art Murakowski and Ron Burton playing in the intervening period.  During the 1995 race to the Roses, Darnell Autry tore up the NU record book, rushing for 1,785 yards and 17 touchdowns.

By season's end, Autry was receiving national attention, but not enough to win the Heisman.  Autry came in fourth, behind Ohio State's Eddie George, who had rushed for 1,927 yards and 24 touchdowns.  Voting was the closest to date: George beat out Nebraska's Tommie Frazier by 264 votes.

1996: Seventh Place

In 1996 Autry became NU's only two-time finalist for the Heisman.  Autry rushed for 1,452 yards and another 17 touchdowns as he helped lead NU to its second consecutive Big Ten championship.  During the Iowa game, Autry put on a clinic, scoring four rushing touchdowns.  He finished the year having averaged 111.6 yards per game for his career at NU.

The 1996 trophy was awarded to Florida's Danny Wuerffel, who had passed for 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns.  Autry finished seventh in the voting.


Damien Anderson
2000: Fifth Place

Anderson took Autry's records and-- en route to the Big Ten title-- vaporized them.  As part of the experimental 2000 no huddle spread offense, led by Zak Kustok, Anderson went wild, rushing for 2,063 yards and 23 touchdowns, records that still stand.

Anderson finished fifth in the Heisman voting, losing the trophy to FSU quarterback Chris Weinke, who had passed for 4,167 yards for the season.  As mentioned above, Anderson was considered a candidate for the 2001 award, but fell out of contention by midseason.