It’s hard to believe today, in light of the reported impending breakup of ESPN and the Big Ten Conference, but once upon a time that relationship was suspected of being strong enough to decide who won the Heisman Trophy.
Twenty-five years ago, during what might have been the most contentious and controversial Heisman race of them all, a wide swath of the Tennessee fan base was convinced the fix was in: ESPN allegedly was pushing Michigan defensive back Charles Woodson to win the award over Volunteers quarterback Peyton Manning.
It’s unlikely that there was a concerted ESPN effort to help Woodson become the first (and only) primarily defensive player to win the Heisman. But his candidacy and Disney-owned ESPN’s programming had a cozy marriage of convenience in 1997. Six regular-season Michigan games were televised by an ESPN platform and the other five were aired by ABC, which Disney bought in 1996 and started to integrate with ESPN. Meanwhile, more than half of Tennessee’s games were broadcast on something other than an ESPN or ABC outlet.
