The official, updated Stanford Toby For Heisman video is up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVf_74OGjDE

Below is the email that I'm sending. I'm sure somebody can do better, (and when you do, please post it) but this will suffice for now. Quantity is more important right now than perfect quality. Btw, the deadline for casting the ballots is 5pm on Monday, December 7th. SO LET'S GET THOSE EMAILS IN!

Note: fixed the email below to reflect that Toby's Pac-10 record is for touchdowns, not rushing yardage.
-------------------------
Dear __________,

I'm writing to urge you to vote for Stanford's Toby Gerhart for the Heisman Trophy award. His statistics speak for themselves, including:

#1 in FBS in Rushing Yardage at 1736
#1 in FBS in Touchdowns at 26 (new Pac-10 record)
#1 in FBS in carries of 10 yards or more (50 carries)
An amazing 83% conversion rate on 3rd or 4th down
3 200-yard games against Notre Dame, Oregon, and Washington
Named the Pac-10 Offensive Player Of The Week three of the last four weeks

Toby Gerhart has shattered the Pac-10 and Stanford record book and carried the team to an 8-4 record (from 5-7 last year) while always maintaining a humble, team-first attitude. Moreover, he is a pro-caliber baseball star, a great student on track to graduate early, and is taking an unheard of 21 credits during this season.

Highlights of his fearless, bruising style can be viewed on various YouTube videos including http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVf_74OGjDE. Notice that he doesn't go down on the first or second hit, requires multiple players to tackle him, and always falls forward to muscle out extra yardage. There have been many times when Stanford has desperately needed yardage (most recently, late in the game against California and Notre Dame) and somehow Toby has willed himself forward to get the job done. Toby is a hero to Stanford and college football.

The only factors against Toby's Heisman campaign are that he plays on the West Coast (less visibility to the rest of the country due to later playing hours), plays for a team with 4 losses (Stanford's defense is rebuilding), and has not been sufficiently publicized (in part due to his humility). But the Heisman trophy should not be about hype. Toby Gerhart truly is the Nation's Most Outstanding College Football Player, and I hope you keep him in mind when you cast your ballot for the Heisman.

Thank you for your time,

GG,

If I'm an editor, I'm going to be either intimidated or bored by an email that long. It should be about half that long, and having bullet points makes it even easier.  Also, since your job is to promote him, don't spend time talking about negatives.  Talk about what he HAS done, not what his team hasn't.  Here are some preliminary edits:

______
Dear __________,

I understand you are a Heisman voter, and I'm writing to encourage you to vote for the nation's most outstanding football player, Toby Gerhart.  Although Toby plays on a less visible West Coast team, he has compiled a record that is second to none:

* #1 in FBS in Rushing Yardage at 1736 (new Pac-10 record)
* #1 in FBS in Touchdowns at 26
* #1 in FBS in carries of 10 yards or more (50 carries)
* An amazing 83% conversion rate on 3rd or 4th down
* Has compiled his statistics against 11 teams from BCS-conference schools and against seven teams that were ranked in the Top 25 at some point in the season.
* Is averaging a national-best 200.3 yards per game against ranked opponents this season.

Highlights of his fearless, bruising style can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVf_74OGjDE.

On top of all this, Gerhart is a MLB caliber baseball player, and is an excellent student on track to graduate in four years.  He is carrying a load of 21 units that include calculus and engineering classes.  Please consider this player's individual accomplishments, and I think you will agree that he is the country's most outstanding player.

Yvonne wrote on 11/30/09 at 8:34pm:


Love it. Brevity was never my strength. thanks!

I've been googling "Heisman," and already came across this blog.  I've sent my email.

_______,

As a Heisman voter I’m sure you get your fair share of spam, but I wanted to send a brief note on Toby Gerhart, a player who you may not have had much chance to see on TV in _______ and who I believe is the most outstanding player in college football.

The stats speak for themselves- he leads all RBs with 1736 rushing yards and 26 TDs, a Pac-10 record (impressive in a league with past Heisman winners such as Marcus Allen, OJ Simpson, and Reggie Bush). What is not as apparent is how he’s gone about achieving these gaudy stats- consistently from day one (10 100+ yard games this season), and against a schedule devoid of cupcakes (Stanford has the 16th hardest strength of schedule, compared to 49 (Texas), 39 (Florida), and 27 (Alabama).

He has carried Stanford in their biggest games, including upsets over top 10 ranked teams USC and Oregon, averaging over 200 yards per game against ranked teams.

Perhaps the most impressive stat of Gerhart’s is this nugget- if Toby touches the ball on 3rd or 4th down, 83% of the time it results in a conversion, which is remarkable considering that Stanford will regularly run Toby on 3rd and 10, like they did against both Oregon and USC, and converted. Perhaps that's why Jim Harbaugh had Toby, not QB Andrew Luck, throw for the game-tying TD on 4th and 4 against Notre Dame on Saturday.

Coming from a program known more for finesse passing ahead of its time, Toby has brought smashmouth football back to the 21st century, and it’s been a pleasure I hope you’ve had a chance to see.

I could go on about Toby, about his MLB talent as an outfielder, about how he will graduate early from Stanford after taking 21 credit hours this quarter, the most allowed for a Stanford student and including calculus and engineering courses, but I’ll let this brief video do the rest of the talking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bav6LrgaG_o

Thanks for reading,
________

PS. One more stat just for fun- he leads the nation with 50 runs of 10 yards or more. He can run over defenders, but he's got giddyup too.

_________________________________________________

Yeah I know it's long, but I figure something brief just wouldn't be convincing. I'm sending this to all the August dates that were simple enough to find, with some customizing (ie throwing in a Wake Forest reference for the voter from Charlotte). I'll send to more if anybody can post up some contact information.

I agree, I wish some Stanford student with time to kill would put together a more condensed video with his breakaway and punishing runs, leaving out some of the TD dives.

[quote author=270F0F042712090506600 link=1259575678/15#20 date=1259642284]Yvonne wrote on 11/30/09 at 8:34pm:


Toby's 1736 rushing yards isn't a Pac-10 record. Marcus Allen had  2427 yards in 1981. I However, the 26 rushing touchdowns is a Pac-10 record (Previous record was 24 by LenDale White and Corey Dillon). I figured we should have our records straight if we are going to write credible emails to voters.