Bo Nix's Heisman campaign just got elevated to new heights as the Oregon quarterback was gifted his own billboard in NYC.
History is repeating itself for the Oregon Ducks, though hopefully, the school will get a happier ending this time around.
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix is getting his very own billboard in Midtown Manhattan, a 151-foot by 90-foot masterpiece that pays homage to former Ducks player Joey Harrington. 22 years ago, then-Ducks quarterback Harrington had his face plastered to the side of a building across Madison Square Garden in anticipation of a hopeful Heisman Trophy-winning season.
Now, Nix is getting the same star treatment, though his larger-than-life portrait can be found at 315 Park Avenue South. The loud green-and-yellow billboard features Nix in a Ducks jersey raising his arms. Above him, humongous block green letters read "BO" vertically down, and then a line of smaller letters sit below, "dacious".
How very "bodacious" indeed.
The Bo Nix Heisman hype has officially begun, as physically manifested by a hundred-thousand-dollar investment on the opposite coast. Nix, who recently transferred from Auburn and exhausts his college football eligibility this fall, enters a pivotal final season brimming with high expectations. In fact, his Oregon-funded billboard advertisement redefines the term "high expectations."
Oregon QB Bo Nix gets the Joey Harrington Heisman treatment
Last season, Nix recorded career-highs in several offensive categories including completion percentage (71.9 percent), passing yards (3,593 yards), and passing touchdowns (29). He added 510 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, too, and led the Ducks to a 10-win season.
But here's the thing: Nix's billboard predecessor, Harrington, also enjoyed a productive junior season that helped boost his stock to win the Heisman Trophy the following year. Prior to Harrington's final ride in 2001, Oregon commissioned Harrington's own billboard, and the rest is somewhat disappointing history: the Ducks won the Pac-10 and finished second overall in the nation, yet Harrington finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. So really, Oregon didn't win much of anything that year. No national championship, no Heisman Trophy winner.
Harrington has since tweeted his love and appreciation for Nix's new billboard hoping Nix can finish what he started.
Nix nonetheless enters the 2023 Heisman Trophy race as a dark horse behind Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and others; DraftKings is currently giving him +1800 odds, tied for seventh-highest.
Can Nix complete the tall task that awaits him? History won't be on his side. Just a really, really big billboard.
