1986 - 52nd Award
Vinny Testaverde
Miami Back

Vinny Testaverde, the incomparable quarterback of the University of Miami, is the 52nd winner of college football's premier individual award, The Heisman Trophy. Vinny, in common with all great quarterbacks, knows that his offensive line makes or breaks the day for him, and no one has been more generous in praise of his blockers than the 6'5", 220-pound aerial wizard from Elmont, Long Island, New York. Let that most successful of college football coaches, in terms of winning percentage, Oklahoma's Barry Switzer, tell you how good Vinny is as a quarterback. "In 21 years," Switzer said, after Vinny had thrown four touchdown passes to beat his number-one-ranked Sooners earlier in the season, "I have never seen a better quarterback." To add some statistical weight to Switzer's appraisal, consider that through the first nine games of the 1986 season, Vinny had completed 154 passes in 242 attempts for but what was perhaps even more impressive was the fact that he threw only eight interceptions. He is, in addition, Miami's all-time leader in career touchdown passes, with 46. Vinny was the number one selection for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and played in the NFL for 20 years before his retirement in 2007. He and his wife Mitzi have one daughter, Alicia Marie, and one son, Vincent, Junior.

The Voting

Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde's 1,541-point margin of victory over Temple running back Paul Palmer is the fifth highest in Heisman history. Testaverde equaled Doug Flutie's 678 first place votes, with the second highest amount going to Holy Cross two-day star Gordon Lockbaum, who had 32 and finished fifth overall.

No. of registered electors: 1,050
Date of announcement: December 6, 1986
Date of dinner: December 11, 1986

The positions within each region are as follows:

Runners-up
Paul Palmer - Temple
Jim Harbaugh - Michigan
Brian Bosworth - Oklahoma
Gordon Lockbaum - Holy Cross