Chicago Tribune Silver Football

{{infobox sports award

| name = Chicago Tribune Silver Football

| current_awards =

| image = Chicago Tribune Silver Football 1925 (image).jpg | imagesize =

| caption = 1925 photograph of the trophy statue given to the recipient

| description = Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Conference

| presenter = Chicago Tribune

| country = United States

| year = 1924

| holder = Dillon Gabriel, Oregon

| website = http://www.chicagotribune.com

}}

File:Tim Lowry receiving the Chicago Tribune Silver Football (1).jpg receiving the 1925 season's trophy]]

The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference.{{cite web|last=Rosenthal|first=Phil|title=Chicago Tribune Silver Football, the Big Ten's MVP award, is headed to TV|date=December 3, 2009|publisher=Chicago Tribune|work=Tower Ticker|url=http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/2009/12/chicago-tribune-silver-football-the-big-tens-mvp-award-is-headed-to-tv.html|access-date=January 29, 2011}} The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois was the award's first recipient. In 2022, the Chicago Tribune announced a new partnership with the Union League Club of Chicago, where it is currently housed.{{Cite web |title=Chicago Tribune Announces Silver Football Awardee and New Partnership With Union League Club of Chicago |url=https://www.newswire.com/news/chicago-tribune-announces-silver-football-awardee-and-new-partnership-21901396 |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=www.newswire.com |language=en}}

A vote of Big Ten head football coaches determines the winner of the Silver Football. Each coach submits a two-player ballot with a first and second choice, and coaches cannot vote for players on their own team. The first-place vote receives two points and the second-place vote receives one point.

Coaches and media of the Big Ten also make annual selections for additional individual honors.

Recipients

The Silver Football award has been presented annually since 1924.{{cite web| url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-silver-football-awards-htmlstory.html| title = Past Silver Football winners - Chicago Tribune| website = Chicago Tribune}}

class="wikitable sortable"

!Year

!Player

!Team

!Position

!Notes

1924

|Red Grange

|Illinois

|HB

1925

|Tim Lowry

| Northwestern

1926

|Benny Friedman

|Michigan

|QB

1927

|Ken Rouse

|Chicago

1928

|Chuck Bennett

|Indiana

|HB

1929

|Bill Glassgow

|Iowa

|HB

1930

|Wes Fesler

|Ohio State

|TE

|Ohio State head coach (1947–1950)

1931

|Biggie Munn

|Minnesota

|G/FB

|Michigan State head coach (1947–1953)

1932

|Harry Newman

|Michigan

|QB

1933

|Joe Laws

|Iowa

|QB

1934

|Pug Lund

|Minnesota

|HB

1935

|Jay Berwanger

|Chicago

|HB

|Heisman Trophy winner

1936

|Vern Huffman

|Indiana

|HB/QB

|All-American in football and basketball

1937

|Corbett Davis

|Indiana

|FB

1938

|Howard Weiss

|Wisconsin

|FB

1939

|Nile Kinnick

|Iowa

|HB

|Heisman Trophy winner

1940

|Tom Harmon

|Michigan

|HB

|Heisman Trophy winner

1941

|Jack Graf

|Ohio State

|QB/FB

1942

|Dave Schreiner

|Wisconsin

|TE

|Killed in action during World War II

1943

|Otto Graham

| Northwestern

|QB

|Washington Redskins head coach (1966–1968), NFL MVP (1951, 1953, 1955)

1944

|Les Horvath

|Ohio State

|HB/QB

|Heisman Trophy winner

1945

|Ollie Cline

|Ohio State

|FB

1946

|Alex Agase

|Illinois

|Northwestern head coach (1964–1972), Purdue head coach (1973–1976)

1947

|Bump Elliott

|Michigan

|HB

|Michigan head coach (1959–1968)

1948

|Art Murakowski

| Northwestern

|FB

1949

|Red Wilson

|Wisconsin

|TE

1950

|Vic Janowicz

|Ohio State

|HB

|Heisman Trophy winner

1951

|Bill Reichardt

|Iowa

|FB

1952

| rowspan="2" |Paul Giel

| rowspan="2" |Minnesota

| rowspan="2" |HB

1953

|First two-time winner, UPI Player of the Year

1954

|Alan Ameche

|Wisconsin

|FB

|Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year

1955

|{{Nowrap|Howard Cassady}}

|Ohio State

|HB

|Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year, AP Male Athlete of the Year

1956

|Ken Ploen

|Iowa

|QB

1957

|Jim Pace

|Michigan

|HB

1958

|Randy Duncan

|Iowa

|QB

1959

|Bill Burrell

|Illinois

1960

|Tom Brown

|Minnesota

|G/DL

1961

|Sandy Stephens

|Minnesota

|QB

1962

|Ron Vander Kelen

|Wisconsin

|QB

1963

|Dick Butkus

|Illinois

|LB

|Two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year

1964

|Bob Timberlake

|Michigan

|QB

1965

|Jim Grabowski

|Illinois

|RB

1966

|Bob Griese

|Purdue

|QB

|NFL MVP (1971)

1967

|Leroy Keyes

|Purdue

|RB

1968

|Ron Johnson

|Michigan

|RB

1969

|Mike Phipps

|Purdue

|QB

1970

|Mike Adamle

| Northwestern

|RB

1971

|Eric Allen

|Michigan State

|RB

1972

|Otis Armstrong

|Purdue

|RB

1973

| rowspan="2" |Archie Griffin

| rowspan="2" |Ohio State

| rowspan="2" |RB

1974

|Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year

1975

|Cornelius Greene

|Ohio State

|QB

1976

|Rob Lytle

|Michigan

|RB

1977

|Larry Bethea

|Michigan State

|DE

1978

|Rick Leach

|Michigan

|QB

1979

|Tim Clifford

|Indiana

|QB

1980

|Mark Herrmann

|Purdue

|QB

1981

|Art Schlichter

|Ohio State

|QB

|AFL MVP (1990)

1982

|Anthony Carter

|Michigan

|WR

|First wide receiver to win the award

1983

|Don Thorp

|Illinois

|DL

1984

|Keith Byars

|Ohio State

|RB

1985

|Chuck Long

|Iowa

|QB

|San Diego State head coach (2006–2008)

1986

|Jim Harbaugh

|Michigan

|QB

|NFL Coach of the Year (2011), Michigan head coach (2015–2023)

1987

|Lorenzo White

|Michigan State

|RB

1988

| rowspan="2" |Anthony Thompson

| rowspan="2" |Indiana

| rowspan="2" |RB

1989

1990

|Nick Bell

|Iowa

|RB

1991

|Desmond Howard

|Michigan

|WR

|Heisman Trophy winner, UPI Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year, Super Bowl MVP (XXXI)

1992

|Lee Gissendaner

| Northwestern

|WR

1993

|Brent Moss

|Wisconsin

|RB

1994

|Kerry Collins

|Penn State

|QB

1995

|Eddie George

|Ohio State

|RB

|Heisman Trophy winner

1996

|Orlando Pace

|Ohio State

|OT

1997

|Charles Woodson

|Michigan

|CB

|Heisman Trophy winner, NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2009)

1998

|Joe Germaine

|Ohio State

|QB

1999

|Ron Dayne

|Wisconsin

|RB

|Heisman Trophy winner, NCAA all-time leading rusher, AP Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year

2000

|Drew Brees

|Purdue

|QB

|Super Bowl MVP (XLVI), NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2008, 2011), AP Male Athlete of the Year (2010), Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year (2010), Walter Payton Man of the Year (2006)

2001

|Antwaan Randle El

|Indiana

|QB

2002

|Brad Banks

|Iowa

|QB

|AP Player of the Year

2003

|Chris Perry

|Michigan

|RB

2004

|Braylon Edwards

|Michigan

|WR

2005

|Michael Robinson

|Penn State

|QB

2006

|Troy Smith

|Ohio State

|QB

|Heisman Trophy winner, AP Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year

2007

|Rashard Mendenhall

|Illinois

|RB

2008

|Shonn Greene

|Iowa

|RB

rowspan="2" |2009

|Daryll Clark

|Penn State

|QB

Brandon Graham

|Michigan

|DE

2010

|Denard Robinson

|Michigan

|QB

2011

|Montee Ball

|Wisconsin

|RB

2012

| rowspan="2" | Braxton Miller

| rowspan="2" | Ohio State

| rowspan="2" |QB

2013

2014

|Melvin Gordon

|Wisconsin

|RB

2015

|Ezekiel Elliott

|Ohio State

|RB

rowspan=2 |2016

|J. T. Barrett

|Ohio State

|QB

Saquon Barkley

| Penn State

| RB

2017

| Saquon Barkley

| Penn State

| RB

2018

|Dwayne Haskins

|Ohio State

|QB

2019

|Chase Young

|Ohio State

|DE

|Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year (2020), NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (2020)

2020

|Justin Fields

|Ohio State

|QB

2021

|Aidan Hutchinson

|Michigan

|DE

2022

|Blake Corum

|Michigan

|RB

2023

|Marvin Harrison Jr.

|Ohio State

|WR

2024

|Dillon Gabriel

|Oregon

|QB

= Winners by school =

class="wikitable" !bgcolor="#e5e5e5"\| School !! bgcolor="#e5e5e5"\| Winners !First !Most recent
Ohio State	23 \| Wes Fesler, 1930 \| Marvin Harrison Jr., 2023
Michigan	19 \| Benny Friedman, 1926 \| Blake Corum, 2022
Iowa	10 \| Bill Glassgow, 1929 \| Shonn Greene, 2008
Wisconsin	9 \| Howard Weiss, 1938 \| Melvin Gordon, 2014
Illinois	7 \| Red Grange, 1924 \| Rashard Mendenhall, 2007
Indiana	7 \| Chuck Bennett, 1928 \| Antwaan Randle El, 2001
Minnesota	6 \| Biggie Munn, 1931 \| Sandy Stephens, 1961
Purdue	6 \| Bob Griese, 1966 \| Drew Brees, 2000
Northwestern	5 \| Tim Lowry, 1925 \| Lee Gissendaner, 1992
Penn State	5 \| Kerry Collins, 1994 \| Saquon Barkley, 2017
Michigan State	3 \| Eric Allen, 1971 \| Lorenzo White, 1987
Chicago	2 \| Ken Rouse, 1927 \| Jay Berwanger, 1935
Oregon	1 \| Dillon Gabriel, 2024 \| Dillon Gabriel, 2024
Maryland	rowspan="6" \| 0 \| colspan="2" rowspan="7" \| None
Nebraska
Rutgers
UCLA
USC
Washington

= Winners by position =

class="wikitable" \|+ ! colspan="3" \|Offense ! colspan="3" \|Defense
Position !Total !Last !Position !Total !Last
RB / HB \| 40 \| Blake Corum, Michigan, 2022 \| DE / DT \| 6 \| Aidan Hutchinson, Michigan, 2021
QB \| 36 \| Dillon Gabriel, Oregon, 2024 \| DB / CB / S \| 1 \| Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1997
OT / G / C \| 7 \| Orlando Pace, OSU, 1996 \| LB \| 1 \| Dick Butkus, Illinois,1963{{efn\|Butkus also played at center.}}
FB \| 8 \| Alan Ameche, Wisconsin, 1954 \| \| \|
WR \| 5 \| Marvin Harrison Jr., OSU, 2023 \| \| \|
TE \| 3 \| Red Wilson, Wisconsin, 1949 \| \| \|

class="wikitable"

! colspan="3" |Offense

! colspan="3" |Defense

Position

!Total

!Last

!Position

!Total

!Last

RB / HB

| 40

| Blake Corum, Michigan, 2022