NEW YORK — Best athlete? Best career? Best stats? Best team?
The Heisman Trophy means many things to many voters, and that's why this year's race has been one of the more unpredictable in the 67-year history of the award.
Four quarterbacks — Miami's Ken Dorsey, Oregon's Joey Harrington, Nebraska's Eric Crouch and Florida's Rex Grossman — are the finalists for college football's top individual award, which will be presented Saturday night at a midtown hotel.
For the first time, the Heisman will not be presented at the Downtown Athletic Club because the building was damaged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Each finalist has attributes worthy of Heisman consideration, but none has the perfect package that stamps him as the favorite.
Harrington, who led Oregon (10-1) to its best regular-season record, was asked this week to handicap the rest of the field.
"Are you going to give the award based on a career? Absolutely give it to Eric," Harrington said. "If it's on numbers this year, you give it to Rex. Early in the season, people were saying Crouch gets the award because he's the best player on the best team. If that's still the case, you give it to Ken."
There are no voting guidelines set by the DAC, which simply asks its 924 voters to select the "Outstanding College Football Player of the United States."
The athlete part?
Crouch, the only finalist who runs first and passes second, has his own take.
"The first thing is their athleticism and their throwing the football and stacking up the yards and being successful for their team," he said. "Every time I see these guys on TV, I get a little jealous because they are throwing the ball quite a bit."
Crouch produced a school-record 7,915 yards at Nebraska, and his 59 rushing TDs are the most by a I-A quarterback. In leading the Huskers to an 11-1 record this year, he ran for 1,115 yards and passed for 1,510.
Naturally, Huskers coach Frank Solich says his guy is the best athlete.
"You ask anybody that's played against him and they will tell you the same thing: They'd rather play against anybody else in the country than Eric Crouch," Solich said.
The excitement factor counts, too. In 1999, Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick was probably the nation's most electrifying player and wound up third in the Heisman voting — as a freshman.
Harrington might have that category wrapped up. Three times, he brought Oregon back in the fourth quarter for victories.
"I've said this many, many times before," Ducks coach Mike Bellotti said. "Joey is one of the best — if not the best — to ever play here, and ever play anywhere."
Grossman is fighting Heisman history. No sophomore has ever won the award, and only 13 juniors have finished first, most recently Michigan's Charles Woodson in 1997.