LOS ANGELES, Ca. — Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown knew who wasn’t going to be his choice in this year’s balloting. However, his research into who was going to be his choice for the prestigious award led him to make a historic blunder.
A source close to the Heisman Trophy Trust confirmed that Brown has submitted his ballot, and his choice for first place was “Daniel McFadden,” a likely confusion of the names of two current leading candidates, Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden. The source additionally stated that the given school was “University of California, Berkeley,” which happens to be the home of Daniel Little “Dan” McFadden, a Nobel Prize-winning econometrician.
Brown said on several national media outlets that he did not believe an underclassman should win the Heisman Trophy and therefore would not be voting for Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. When contacted, Brown explained that he attempted to do research into the other leading candidates using the Internet, the first time he had tried to use a computer to help fill out his ballot. “I’m not very good with these computer things,” Brown said.
A search for “Daniel McFadden” on leading search engine Google will lead the user to several websites about the real Daniel McFadden. When contacted, McFadden stated that he was unfamiliar with the award, though after hearing that it is an award related to colleges, he wanted it made clear that UC-Berkeley is his employer, while the University of Minnesota is his alma mater. McFadden shared the Nobel Prize in economics with Dr. James Heckman in 2000.
It is believed this is the first time that a Heisman vote has gone to someone who is not a student at an eligible university. It is not yet known whether Brown’s second and third place votes will stand.
Year 2 
[…] from Tim Brown: the genius said…"I voted for Daniel McFadden." ND should be proud… Brown Accidentally Votes for “Daniel McFadden” « Year 2 […]
Fake news articles and slander is cool.
sat·ire /ˈsætaɪər/ Pronunciation[sat-ahyuhr]
–noun
1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule.
You’re not being satirical about anything, you just wrote something that isn’t true and falsely attributed it to someone.
This story is not attributed to anyone, if you notice. I didn’t attach a news service’s name to it for a reason. There are some made up quotes in there, but fake quotes are a staple of satirical news stories. Lighten up, will ya?
This is certainly not slander. For one thing, “slanderous” comments in written form would probably fall under libel, because it’s written (just a pet peeve of mine). More importantly, satire is protected free speech.
However, if this is a joke…you should probably state it more clearly, because idiots are taking it seriously. Including, evidentally, idiots that write for the New York Times and teach at a Top 10 US News World Reports University. http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/economist-dan-mcfadden-nobel-prize-in-2000heisman-in-2007/
I saw that Mr. Levitt had linked here through a massive spike in traffic. At this point, it should be evident from the comments that this piece is a joke. I guess I’ll have to be more careful in the future, but the patent absurdity of this should have been a dead giveaway.
I resent the suggestion that the putative vote for me for the Heisman trophy was a error. After all, I am an athlete in my own right — I run experiments, skip controls, and jump to conclusions. But I did not run enough to be competitive, so if nominated I will not run. I withdraw and instruct my elector to vote for Darren McFadden, who is a great back and a credit to the McFadden name.
Dan McFadden
Nobel Laureate, Economics, 2000
Daniel Mcfadden, that is a funny statement…