But first, Henry is going to enjoy this moment.
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Henry came to Alabama as a five-star recruit. He said, “I know that our entire organization is really happy, happy, happy for Derrick Henry tonight, winning the Heisman Trophy”.
The Heisman Trophy race lacked numerous surprises traditionally associated with college football’s top individual award.
While Henry will likely play in the NFL next season, Watson and McCaffrey still have plenty of college football left to play and are early Heisman favorites heading into the 2016-17 season.
Two other Florida players made the first team, with Hargreaves accompanied by defensive lineman Jon Bullard and cornerback Jalen Tabor.
“It’s a monster class”, said Chris Huston, a Heisman historian and editor-in-chief of Heisman.com. If there was a fourth spot on my ballot, he would be there and I do feel bad he wasn’t invited to NY. He also got to spend Friday and Saturday taking in the sights and sounds of his first trip to the Big Apple, like Central Park and Times Square. The delay cost them lunch at an Italian restaurant, but otherwise all was well.
Derrick Henry thanked his grandmother, who was watching with 25 family members, at the Heisman ceremony.
Being a finalist is a once-in-lifetime event for most players, often the culmination of a great career.
As for McCaffrey, it is true that he accounted for more of Stanford’s offense by way of a run or reception, but by less than three percent at 41.2.
Watson, who said he was more nervous at the college football awards show Thursday, told himself before this weekend to “soak it all in”, and that this was a reward for all the hard work he’s put into this season.
“I’m never letting go of this thing”, Henry said.
Watson said building friendships with Henry and McCaffrey were the most memorable takeaway from this experience.
While the SEC has dominated this award in recent years, no one has come so agonizingly close but ended up empty quite like Stanford. All the while, he dreamed of accepting the Heisman Trophy… The best run defense they played was Northwestern’s in Week 1 of the season where they lost 16-6. He broke the Penn State single-season sacks record.
The Crimson Tide’s super-sized tailback is just the third running back to take the Heisman in the past 16 years.
As a sophomore he shared carries with T.J. Yeldon and ran for 990 yards and 11 touchdowns.
As reporters took a few final pictures, Henry wrapped his arms around the trophy and gave it a smooch as his eyes lit up.
Henry and Patrick talked for almost nine minutes and covered a number of topics, including the Alabama vs. Auburn rivalry, the last time Nick Saban yelled at the star running back, and how much the Heisman Trophy actually weighs. Mark Ingram won the first back in 2009. This year’s three invitees are not in the 2015 graduating classes of their respective schools. For college coaches, there is no sense trying to save that talent.
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The twenty-one year old Yulee, Florida native is the 18th Junior to receive the award and 16th from the South region (AL, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, TN).
