As expected, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford received the highest honor in college football, taking home the 74th Heisman Trophy from the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City on Saturday night.
The Heisman is yet another accolade for Bradford this season, who will lead the Sooners (12-1) in pursuit of a national title against the Florida Gators in the BCS National Championship game on Jan. 8 in Miami.
Bradford also won the Davey O'Brien award earlier this week, given by the Fort Worth Club for outstanding college football quarterback.
Bradford finished with 1,726 points. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy finished second with 1,604 points. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, last year's Heisman winner, finished in third with 1,575 points.
Texas Tech teammates Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree finished a distant fourth and fifth, respectively.
Bradford was welcomed on-stage to collect his award by raucous cheers of "Boomer ... Sooner!" coming from fellow Oklahoma alums Billy Sims and Jason White, who are also Heisman winners. Bradford is the fifth Sooner to take home the trophy, and the second winner during Bob Stoops' 10-year tenure in Norman, Okla.
"This is an individual award but I feel like I'm receiving it on behalf of my teammates," Bradford said. "I feel like our whole offense bails me out every game," Bradford said. "They make me look good."
Heading into Saturday night's ceremony, all three quarterbacks had a great shot at the award. And the voting proved that - less than 200 points separated first-place Bradford from third place Tebow.
The only other time the margin between first and third was smaller was in 2001 when Nebraska's Eric Crouch beat out Florida's Rex Grossman and Miami's Ken Dorsey.
Tebow openly stated earlier in the season that his Heisman vote would go to McCoy - and who could blame him? Not only did McCoy lead the Longhorns in passing, he also led the team in rushing. And if not for the highlight-reel play with :01 left by Texas Tech, McCoy and the Longhorns would likely be Big 12 Champions and headed to the national title game, instead of Bradford's Sooners.
Instead it was Bradford, who leads the nation in passing touchdowns with 48, who took home the biggest trophy available.
Up next -- the crystal football. Can Bradford bring that home, too? We'll find out in Miami.
-- Keeli Garza
Congrats Sam Bradford!
For more information, see:
www.39-33.com
Posted by: David | December 14, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Congrats to Sam Bradford on winning the Heisman. He's going to make a terrific Arena league QB, just like Jason White.
Posted by: BCSux | December 14, 2008 at 12:39 PM