Jason White. Matt Leinart. Reggie Bush. Troy Smith. Tim Tebow. These five each won the Heisman Trophy, respectively, from 2003-2007.  

Jason White is a small-business owner in a rural Oklahoma town. Matt Leinart is laying poolside, bumming around in Laguna Beach. Reggie Bush has had a decent pro season for Detroit, but obviously has not lived up to his expectations (technically, he doesn’t even have a Heisman trophy. The NCAA acknowledges his existence as much as we acknowledge Jack DeGranges’). Troy Smith takes classes at Ohio State University and when he’s not doing his math homework, he's playing pro football for the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. Tim Tebow doesn’t look like he’ll be on an NFL roster anytime soon.

The Heisman Trophy is awarded to the best player in college football each year. Notre Dame and Ohio State have each had the most Heisman winners, with 7 each. The first Heisman winner, Jay Berwanger, a star running back at the University of Chicago. Berwanger later resided in Oak Brook, Illinois.

The Heisman Trophy is obviously a huge deal. Winners of the trophy are remembered forever and are considered college football legends. Florida State's Jameis Winston is the reigning Heisman winner and has had a great season thus far. Most would assume that the Heisman winner is typically due for a successful, professional football career. But is this true?

For starters, Heisman winners go to jail. 1968 winner OJ Simpson allegedly murdered his wife and is now in prison on armed robbery and kidnapping charges. 2012 winner Johnny Manziel has spent a couple nights in the cell. 2010 winner Cam Newton was infamous for stealing students’ laptops, so Brian Lewaniak – hide your MacBook. Newton was arrested after campus police found the laptop in the grass, after being thrown out of the dorm window by Cam.

Need a stock broker? Contact 1992 winner Gino Torretta. Remember when Masters winner Bernhard Langer won the 2009 Triton Financial Classic? I don’t either, but 2000 winner Chris Weinke does – he is currently head of event-planning for the finance firm. Need to remodel your house? 1964 winner John Huarte is the CEO of Arizona Tile Supply, Inc. 1967 winner Gary Beban has thrown just one more pass in the NFL than I have. My favorite Heisman winner is 1993 winner Charlie Ward. He claimed that if he did not get drafted in the first round, he would play in the NBA instead. He then played in the NBA, and scored nearly 4,000 points in his career.

Here’s where it gets crazy. Out of the 77 winners of the Heisman trophy, only 8 of them have been inducted in the football hall of fame. Perhaps it’s the type of style of play that leads to Heisman wins. Quick, dual-threat quarterbacks that have the speed to run around college defenses have had success with the award. Even though that style of play works at the college level, pro defenses are much faster, hence the reason Troy Smith and Tim Tebow didn’t work out. There have been 3 Heisman winners that went undrafted. At one point, 1989 winner Andre Ware backed up 1984 winner Doug Flutie for the Toronto Argonauts. 1998 winner Ricky Williams flocked to the Toronto Argonauts at one point as well, because he was awarded the opportunity to instruct free yoga classes at a Toronto yoga center. Heisman voters love offense, with Charles Woodson being the only winner to play defense in the history of the award. In fact, more winners have worked for Triton Financial (Weinke and Ty Detmer) than have played defense.

This isn’t to say that Heisman winners are going to have bad careers. After all, winners include Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders. However, a Heisman win may mean that you’re much more likely to be playing for a Grey Cup instead of a Lombardi Trophy. Or working for Triton Financial.