[Fredericka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] The prestigious Heisman Trophy will be awarded tonight at New York's Yale Club. It goes each year to the nation's most outstanding college football player. Four finalists were invited to New York for the ceremony. We will have the winners for you on CNN Saturday Night with Carol Lin, 10 Eastern, 7 Pacific. Well let's bring in CNN Sports Correspondent Matt Morrison to talk about who some of the contenders are.
[Matt Morrison, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Yes.
[Whitfield:] It looks good.
[Morrison:] This is a good year for the Heisman Award.
[Whitfield:] This is an exciting night.
[Morrison:] Yes, because they're are four guys who are certainly deserving. If it's not the most prestigious award in sports. It is certainly topped by the greatest poser of all time. Winning the Hiesman Trophy makes a man indelible as an athlete. The four finalists, announced earlier this week, include Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald from the University of Pittsburgh; Ole Miss Quarterback Eli Manning, son of Archie, brother of Peyton; Michigan Running Back Chris Perry and Oklahoma Quarterback Jason White. All are deserving candidates, although White and Fitzgerald have to be considered front runners. Now, if Fitzgerald wins the award, he would be the first sophomore ever to take home the trophy. Of the previous 68 winners, 55 have been seniors, the rest juniors. Fitzgerald let the nation in both total yards receiving and touchdown grabs, with 22. He's a spectacular play maker. Fitzgerald has already won the Walter Camp Award as the nation's top college player. If being a sophomore is being a drawback, so too, could be the Panthers disappointing 8-4 record. He might be the best talent in the country and the Heisman would prove it.
[Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Wide Receiver:] I mean, the Heisman, you can't say much more about it. It's probably the most coveted award in sports besides the Super Bowl ring or national championship. That's just it's hard to put into words what it would mean.
[Morrison:] It means a lot. Oklahoma's Jason White is more of the traditional candidate, Fredricka. The 'Sooners quarterback is a senior and played for a team that was ranked number one nearly the entire season. His statistics are undeniable. White's 40 touchdown passes against only eight interceptions rank as one of the best year's ever. He's already been voted as the Associated Press Player of the Year. Now, if White is superstitious he might not care if he wins this award, though. That's because the Heisman Trophy has not guaranteed success at the next level, especially at the quarterback position. Take a look at some of the list of recent Heisman winning quarterbacks. It shows some have had a tough time. You have to go back to Jim Plunkett, the winner in 1970, to find a quarterback who went on to win a Super Bowl. One name missing from this list is USC's Carson Palmer, who won the trophy last year. He's only a rookie in the NFL so we don't count him yet, it remains to be seen if he will have a Heisman hex or not. Now, we're going to talk a little baseball and hold the confetti on that Roger Clemens retirement party. The future Hall of Famer told the Huston radio station he will consider playing one more season, this time with his hometown Astros. The thought of reteaming with ex-Yankees mate and fellow Texan Andy Petitte, seems to be alluring for Clemens. After 20 years, he still has big time, big league stuff. It's difficult to tell if his comments on the radio were serious. He was concerned he would have to return the Hummer H2 that the Yankees gave him as a retirement gift. Finally, fans returning to Michigan StateKentucky college basketball game will want to bring their binoculars. This one, between a couple of top-25 teams, will be played in a pro football stadium, Ford Field in Detroit. A full house of almost 80,000 would constitute a world record crowd to see basketball game. You know, 80,000 Fredricka is about five times the normal capacity of your typical college basketball arena.
[Whitfield:] Oh, my gosh.
[Morrison:] They're trying to set a record Harlem Globetrotters, way back in the 1950s have the world's record for the biggest crowd, 75,000 plus
[Whitfield:] Oh, impressive. All right. Real quick, your Heisman pick?
[Morrison:] I think Jason White, undeniably. He's actually flown under the radar on the teams, college football's best team, his numbers are outstanding, as good as any college quarterback ever. I think he's got to be the guy.
[Whitfield:] All right. We'll be watching. Tonight, 10 o'clock.
[Morrison:] All right.
[Whitfield:] Thanks a lot, Matt.
[Morrison:] You're welcome. USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com