Joe Burrow Was Left Off 4.5 Percent of Heisman Ballots, So What's the Point?

Joe Burrow won the Heisman on Saturday night. The LSU quarterback capped an insane season by winning the trophy by the largest margin of victory in Heisman history. Yet he wasn't a unanimous selection as 4.5 percent of ballots omitted him. It's time to seriously ask, what are we even doing here?

If you didn't put Joe Burrow on your ballot, why do you have a vote and what is the point of this? Burrow led the NCAA in touchdowns and completion percentage, was second in passing yards, and was third in yards per attempt. And he did it on the No. 1 team in the nation against a schedule that included five top 10 teams. You can make a case for someone else, but you can't a case against Joe Burrow being on the ballot.

The other, but less egregious, thing to come out of the final Heisman results is the inclusion of Tua Tagovailoa. The Alabama quarterback, who missed the final two games of the season, got a first-place vote. Unlike Burrow, there is a case against Tagovailoa. He didn't play the entire season. His total numbers were just not as impressive as any of the other finalists. Bama with Tua lost to Burrow and LSU. How is he first?

Tagovailoa still impressed plenty of people and collected four second-place votes and 13 third-place votes. He finished 10th in voting and, in his defense, he was second in the NCAA with 11.3 yards per attempt, sixth in touchdown passes (33) and completion percentage, and he only threw three interceptions. It's nice that people still wanted to celebrate that. It's insane that someone voted him first.

Baseball goes through this every year with Hall-of-Fame voters. Some refuse to vote for anyone in their first year of eligibility as if "first ballot Hall of Famers" get a special sticker on their plaque. The truth is, in 100 years, if Earth, America and baseball all still exist, nobody will have any idea how many people voted for Edgar Martinez the seventh year he missed the cut.

You just wonder, who are these people? Whatever their failings or intentions, they make awards seem... dumb and pointless. But it's not like we're going to stop handing them out, no matter how badly some people get it wrong. So don't be upset that Joe Burrow ran away with the Heisman in almost everyone's opinion. Don't dwell on the few who don't deserve their responsibility. Just find out who they are and remind them of it constantly.