I sent my Heisman vote back Tuesday. No more jokes from me about recounts, ballots or chads -- hanging or otherwise. They've been done to death.

The Heisman ballot, by the way, is anything but confusing. It has blank spaces for all three players and their schools. Neither must be spelled correctly to be counted.

	Chris Weinke threw for 33 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. He's the ACC's career passing leader with 9,839 yards.

A quick story: I have in my possession a ballot from the 1994 Heisman vote. The ballot lists the voter's first choice simply as "Ki-Jana." No "Carter." On the second line: Steve McNair, from "Alcorn A&M." Not "State," as the school has been known for some time.

Finally, third place went to "Rashad Salaam." So, one missing last name, one misspelled first name and one misidentified school.

Whose ballot was it? I will never tell. Because it was somebody famous. Point is, the reliable folks at the Heisman's accounting firm (the always-misspelled Deloitte and Touche) identified the voter's intent and counted the ballot.

That's a good thing. This year, the top candidates' names offer endless possibilities for mangled spelling. Winkie? Hy-pull? Or is it "u" before "e" except before "p"? Not to mention the great back from TCU: Don't forget the capital "D" in LaDainian and do forget the "h" in Tomlinson. If you're spelling-challenged, I guess Drew Brees is the safe vote.

Saturday night suspense
Heisman night in the Portrait Room on the 13th floor of the Downtown Athletic Club is one of my favorite moments each year. Being in the company of the past winners, presenting the finalists, saluting their seasons, and standing by as the winner's name is announced is an honor that I truly cherish.

It's even more enjoyable when genuine suspense exists. When no drama exists about the outcome, I don't try to create any for the hour-long show. It would cheapen things and make me feel silly.

It hasn't happened too often: the above-mentioned vote in '94 (when Rashaan Salaam won) and Charles Woodson's win over Peyton Manning three years ago are the only two suspenseful nights in the last seven. Until this year.

Like every year, I will be handed an envelope with the winner's name before the show. It is sealed, and I never open it until the commercial break just before the DAC president makes the announcement. At that point, my part of the show is about done, except for interviewing the winner.

So it's good not to get caught off guard, just in case there's a surprising result.

Decision 2000
This year's hot issue is possible age bias against Chris Weinke. At 28, he would be the oldest winner by five years. No one knows how widespread the bias. There is really no reliable way to forecast how 922 voters (media and past winners) from six regions will vote. Exit polling can be shaky, as we've seen the past month, especially when the survey sample may not reflect the same sensibilities as the larger electorate.

But, as a service, leader here are ...

The Finalists
ESPN does not decide who the final four or five will be. It is based on the early returns, the votes counted before the final week (ballots can arrive as late as Friday).

The cutoff is made where it makes sense, wherever a gap exists in the point totals (three for first, two for second, one for third).

Drew Brees, QB, Purdue
I feel glad for Brees, capping a career that put Purdue back on the map with the school's first Rose Bowl trip in 34 years. He deserved to go out with a bang after setting almost every Big Ten career passing and total offense record.

You may not realize it, but Brees developed a new weapon this season: his legs. He ran for more than 500 yards, gained six yards per attempt and scored five rushing touchdowns. Those are huge numbers for a QB in a passing offense. Brees also has to share credit with the offensive line for being sacked only eight times all year (for a loss of only 48 yards!), extraordinary for a team that attempts so many passes.

To me, Drew's heart and fire were best capsulized in the final minutes of the Ohio State game. With a pair of fourth-quarter TD passes, he rallied Purdue in a game the Boilermakers had to have to stay in the Rose Bowl race. Then, while protecting a lead, he made a critical error. Mike Doss intercepted his weak sideline throw and raced to the Boilers' 2-yard line. The Bucks quickly punched in the go-ahead touchdown. It looked like Brees had thrown away the game and the trip to Pasadena.

But then he delivered heroics that only added to his legend. Seth Morales was the fourth receiver on the winning play. Brees hardly ever got down to the fourth progression on this play, but by showing that rare poise and command of the scheme, he found Morales streaking down the field wide open and hit him in stride. Bingo. Purdue was back in the lead for good and was on its way to the Rose Bowl.

It'll be nice to see Drew back at the DAC as a finalist for a second straight year. That in itself is a very rare honor -- to finish in the top five twice.

Josh Heupel, QB, Oklahoma
You've probably read the Heupel story somewhere by now. If so, skip the following graph.

If not: Josh was a football-mad toddler following his dad, Ken, to work as a Division II assistant at 5:30 a.m., sitting quietly in the corner of a darkened film room, absorbing football knowledge. He was player of the year in a cold state that is anything but a football hotbed (South Dakota). He went to Weber State, redshirted, ripped up his knee, got stuck handing off too much for his liking, transferred to the now-infamous outpost of Snow Junior College in Utah, split time with another talented QB, figured he'd graduate to Utah State, but then was convinced OU was the right spot after seven hours of film study, which served as his recruiting visit to Norman.

In his weird, winding path to stardom, Heupel has shaped a style that is anything but classic. I've seen him four times this year from field level and have always come away amazed that his wobbly passes, delivered from a variety of arm angles, are so uncannily accurate and well-timed. But, God, are they ugly.

He is a southpaw savant, with a scary feel for the passing game. Coordinator Mark Mangino gives Heupel rare liberty at the line of scrimmage; Heupel checks off about 20 percent of the time.

He's also a better athlete than people think, with better-than-average running ability and the strength to take hits in order to deliver first downs. He's as good a passer backpedaling as I've seen.

Josh has taken a team that was 3-8 before he got to Norman to the BCS title game in two years. He's certainly not the best NFL prospect on his team (and the Sooners are not exactly over-stocked with them for a 12-0 team!), but he is the best and most valuable Sooner.

LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, TCU
It's a shame more folks didn't get to enjoy more of his highlights this year. TCU was hard to find on TV, even with the dishes we have. For a guy who leaves with a 5,000-yard-plus career and the fourth-best single season for a running back in Division I-A history, LT does not leave behind many burned-in mental images.

Tomlinson is a powerful "downhill" runner, with iron legs that can squat 600 pounds. But he also has enough "jelly" in his hips to shake and shimmy past tacklers. He has great vision and a strong, innate feel for finding holes. He hits the hole quickly and hard. His speed is deceptive. Tacklers are first punished, then outrun.

Maybe we've all gotten numbed by rushing numbers. Ricky Williams and Ron Dayne were runaway Heisman winners, and suddenly, 2,000 yards seem less magical. LT had a truly great year and an awesome career, joining a 1-10 bunch and helping in large part to turn the Horned Frogs into a 10-1 top-15 team. He helped revive the legacy of TCU's golden age in the 1930s, when Sammy Baugh, then Davey O'Brien were slingin' it. The tiny QB O'Brien (he was about 140 pounds) is TCU's last Heisman winner, 62 years ago. LT is unlikely to end that drought, but he did all that he could this season.

We'll eventually see plenty of LT highlights -- on Sundays.

Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State
You're probably well-versed on Weinke. A three-year starter at Florida State with 33 wins, three ACC titles, making a second straight start in the BCS title game is no mystery.

Weinke has been so good this year, so scary, that people have to look for reasons to explain his performance. The dumbest thing I've heard is that he's so good because he's so old. The argument: "Hey, the guy's an NFL QB playing in college. It's unfair to let him be out there."

Stupid. When Weinke returned from his six-year hiatus playing first base in the Toronto Blue Jays' organization, his quarterbacking skills had digressed. Mark Richt, Florida State's offensive coordinator, told me Weinke was sharper and better prepared for playing college QB when he spent five days on the FSU campus as an 18-year-old. After trying to hit a curve ball for all those summers, how was he supposed to improve?

Weinke might be older than about 16 NFL starting QBs, but he has still played only four years of football since 1990. It's not like he operated the Rams' offense, got NFL tutoring, then decided to come back and show off his skills against poor, unprepared college defenses.

Holding age against a Heisman candidate is ludicrous! There is no age limit to play NCAA football, and there should be none for All-America teams or postseason awards, written or unwritten. Not voting for Weinke because he is 28 is wrong.

If any voter prefers Heupel or Brees or Tomlinson or Aso Pogi (Oklahoma State) or anybody else, they should vote for that guy, not against someone because he's supposedly gained some advantage by being 28. God, if it were that simple to wait six years, knock around the real world, come back and win a national title or two, pick up the Heisman and head for the NFL in the first or second round, there would be a lot of geezers playing on Saturday.

The incredible journey
What strikes me about this year's cast of Heisman finalists is the tough-mindedness they have shown. All four have taken long, interesting journeys to this sport's pinnacle. All four have faced unusual, scary obstacles and come through.

Whether it's having to perpetually prove wrong skeptics and doubters who did not recruit him or did not believe in his talents (Brees) -- navigating the strange trip from Aberdeen, S.D., to a JUCO surrounded by stinking turkey farms to revolutionize the offense at famous running-game factory (Heupel) -- showing the faith to join a terrible team and unselfishly working to turn it into a winner (Tomlinson) -- or answering adversity again and again, from a fractured neck that came within an inch of paralysis to playing on a sprained foot so painful he could barely put weight on it -- and never whining about it (Weinke).

These four have great stories. They are studies in persistence and toughness and courage. By the way, their teams' combined records this year are 41-5 heading into the bowl games! I congratulate all of them.

I hope you can join us Saturday night for the show.