There have been seven University of Southern California (USC) Trojans football players who have won the Heisman Trophy. The seven footballers who have won all seven Heisman Awards are as follows:
- Mike Garrett, running back, won in 1965
- OJ Simpson, a runner, received the award in 1968
- Charles White, a running back, accepted the honor in 1979.
- Marcus Allen in 1981 became the fourth running back from USC to win the award.
- Carson Palmer was the first Trojans quarterback to win the award when he accepted it in 2002.
- Matt Leinart played quarterback for the University of Southern California and received the Heisman Award in 2004.
- Reggie Bush in 2005 was named the fifth running back from USC to take home the award.
With a total of seven Heisman Trophies produced by Southern Cal, the Los Angeles, California-based institution of higher education is tied for the most received by any school. Both the University of Notre Dame and Ohio State University match an impressive seven trophies from a single school. Because Ohio State has the distinction of producing the only two-time winner in Archie Griffin Notre Dame and the University of Southern California actually join as the only two universities to produce seven different winners.
The Heisman Trophy is named after football pioneer John Heisman and was first awarded to Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago in 1935. Over the decades, the award has been widely accepted as the most highly promoted and prestigious individual award. in the sport of college football. Although the Heisman association is awarded to the most outstanding college football player, winning the honor has not proven to be a guarantee of professional success.
In terms of the seven Trojans players who have had the honor of winning the Heisman Trophy, two of those men went from college football to the National Football League (NFL) as the number one overall picks in the NFL Draft. in their respective years. The two players taken with the first pick in the first round in the NFL Drafts are Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson, who was selected by the Buffalo Bills in 1969, and Carson Palmer, who was selected with the first pick in the NFL Draft. 2003 NFL by the Cincinnati Bengals. .
Despite falling to the 10th overall pick by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1982, Marcus Allen joined OJ Simpson in 2003 as the only two former USC players to win Heisman Trophies and be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Professional American Football in Canton, Ohio.