Since the creation of the Heisman Trophy in 1935, a total of 33 quarterbacks have won the award. Although most were hyped to be the next-coming, only about one-third ever amounted to much in the NFL.

In fact, only three Heisman QBs have won NFL championships.

Paul Hornung

Paul Hornung was a Heisman QB as an All-American out of Notre Dame in 1956. Although he was one of three Heisman QBs to win an NFL championship, he didn’t play QB in the NFL.

Selected as the first overall pick by the Green Bay Packers in 1957, Vince Lombardi switched Hornung to running back. Hornung played in Green Bay for nine seasons. He rushed for 3,171 and scored 50 TDs; caught 130 passes for 1,480 yards and 12 TDs; and passed for 5 TDs on the option pass. Also used as the team’s placekicker, he led the league in scoring three times and racked up 760 career points on 62 TDs, 190 PATs, and 66 FGs.

A two-time Pro Bowler and 1961 MVP, he won a total of three NFL Championships and one Super Bowl – the first.

Paul Hornung  was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1985.

He sat out the entire 1963 season – along with Alex Karras from the Detroit Lions. Both players were suspended for betting on NFL games.

Roger Staubach

Roger Staubach, an All-American at Navy in 1963, also won the Heisman in 1963 – as a junior. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the tenth round of the 1964 draft – the 129^th overall pick. The reason he was drafted so low was because he was required to serve five years on active duty in the Navy – one year of which he spent in Da Nang. No one knew if he would still be able to play – or even want to play – after completing his military obligation.

With the Cowboys, he served as an understudy to Craig Morton for two seasons before taking over as a starter in 1971. In his 11 seasons in Dallas, he passed for 22,700 yards and 153 TDs. He also ran for 2,264 yards and another 20 TDs.

A six-time Pro Bowler, he led the Cowboys to five NFC championships and two Super Bowl victories. He was league MVP and Super Bowl MVP once each.

Roger Staubach was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1985.

Jim Plunkett

Jim Plunkett, an All-American at Stanford in 1970, was taken by the New England Patriots as the first overall pick in the 1971 draft. He then spent a checkered career of 15 seasons in the NFL – with the Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, and the Raiders in both Oakland and Los Angeles.

He passed for 25,882 yards and 164 TDs. He ran for another 1,137 yards and 14 TDs.

Plunkett led the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories – one in Oakland and one in Los Angeles. He was MVP when the Oakland Raiders beat the Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl XV in 1981 and three years later he led the Los Angeles Raiders to a 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII.

Jim Plunkett is the only QB to win two Super Bowls and not become a member of the NFL Hall of Fame.

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List of All Heisman QBs

The list of all Heisman QBs follows. As you scrutinize the names on the list, take note of how many Heisman QBs wound up being busts or journeymen in the NFL.

Bold type below indicates Heisman QBs who at one time were starting QBs in the NFL.

1938 Davey O’Brien, TCU – two years – one Pro Bowl

1939 Nile Kinnick, Iowa – never played in NFL

1943 Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame – never played in NFL

1944 Les Horvath, Ohio State – three years

1947 Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame – four years – two Pro Bowls

1956 Paul Hornung, Notre Dame – nine years – two Pro Bowls – three NFL championships – one Super Bowl

1962 Terry Baker, Oregon – three years

1963 Roger Staubach, Navy – 11 years – six Pro Bowls – two Super Bowls – one MVP – one Super Bowl MVP

1964 John Huarte, Notre Dame – eight years

1966 Steve Spurrier, Florida – ten years

1967 Gary Beban, UCLA – two years

1970 Jim Plunkett, Stanford – 16 years – two Super Bowls – one Super Bowl MVP

1971 Pat Sullivan, Auburn – six years

1984 Doug Flutie, Boston College – 12 years – one Pro Bowl

1986 Vinny Testeverde, Miami – 21 years – two Pro Bowls

1989 Andre Ware, Houston – six years

1990 Ty Detmer, BYU – 14 years

1992 Gino Torretta, Miami – six years

1993 Charlie Ward, FSU – played in the NBA for 11 years

1996 Danny Wuerffel, Florida – six years

2000 Chris Weinke, FSU – seven years

2001 Eric Crouch, Nebraska – never played in NFL

2002 Carson Palmer, USC – 11 years – two Pro Bowls

2003 Jason White, Oklahoma – never played in NFL

2004 Matt Leinart, USC – seven years

2006 Troy Smith, Ohio State – four years

2007 Tim Tebow, Florida – three years

2008 Sam Bradford, Oklahoma – four years

2010 Cam Newton, Auburn – four years – two Pro Bowls

2011 Robert Griffin III, Baylor – three years – one Pro Bowl

2012 Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M – one year

2013 Jameis Winston, FSU – ???

2014 Marcus Mariota, Oregon – ???

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Based upon the past performances of Heisman QBs, it looks as if both Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota will play in the NFL for several years. However, the odds of their taking their teams to a Super Bowl victory are slim. The last Heisman QB to win the Super Bowl was Jim Plunkett – who won the Heisman 45 years ago and won the Super Bowl 34 years ago.

Now back to focusing on Marcus Mariota, on Thursday, Bovada posted a prop bet on the chances of Marcus Mariota landing with the Eagles. When I first noticed it during the afternoon, the odds looked like this –

Bovada set overwhelming odds that Marcus Mariota would NOT land in Philly.

But there must’ve been some heavy betting – possibly by Eagles fans – that Marcus Mariota would, indeed, land in Philly. Because when I checked around 6:30 p.m., you could no longer place that bet.

Based on Las Vegas gambling experts, the odds of Marcus Mariota landing with the Eagles are slim. But with what I’ve seen in the past few days, I wouldn’t put anything past Chip Kelly.

But from where I’m sitting, that’s not necessarily good. Chip still hasn’t proven that he’s a top-shelf coach or that he can evaluate talent properly.

Barry Bowe is the author of Born to Be Wild and 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant.