NEW YORK – To almost nobody’s surprise, including him, Tim Tebow didn’t win the 2009 Heisman Trophy.
The guy who did win the Heisman helped Alabama beat Tebow’s Florida Gators for the SEC title. And typical of Tebow, he found a way to help somebody else even in his own bitter losses.
Mark Ingram’s big night against the Gators, with three touchdowns in a 32-13 SEC Championship victory, boosted his cause as the Crimson Tide’s first Heisman winner in history – difficult, as that may be to believe.
Tebow was fifth. But he took it in stride.
“I’m a realist,” said Tebow. “I kind of expected that. We didn’t end the season in the hottest way and that’s what happens. So, you know, I think that’s fair.”
Tebow’s 390 points were only a third of Ingram’s total and the fewest since he won the trophy in 2007. He has now finished first, third and fifth. In second place was Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, followed by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and then Nebraska defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh.
Tebow did, however, come to the assistance of the winner, offering words of encouragement just prior to the announcement and praying with Ingram to help him.
“He’s a great kid and he’s going to have a great career,” said Tebow. “He’s somebody you want to be around. He’s a lot of fun and I’m very happy for him.”
Tebow said Ingram earned it the way he played versus Florida with his grind-it-out running and the killer 69-yard screen pass. “I realized then he was a real dude and a player,” Tebow said.
The two SEC stars bonded over the Heisman week and Tebow said he had an inkling that Ingram was going to be the winner of the 75th Heisman Trophy. He could see that Ingram was very nervous prior to the announcement and asked the Alabama running back if he wanted to pray.
“I could see he was nervous, so I said ‘You want to go pray?’” said Tebow. “And he was like ‘Yeah.’ So we went and found a quiet room and prayed for peace for him and that all the nerves would die down and that he would be able to enjoy the moment and enjoy this opportunity for him.”
It was a tough, emotional moment for the ‘Bama running back, making his acceptance speech through tears, saying he felt proud to win the prestigious award on behalf of his school, but clearly thinking of his imprisoned father, Mark Ingram Sr., the former New York Giants and Miami Dolphins receiver.
“I’m sure he’s proud of me,” Ingram said of his father. “But at the same time we’re not finished yet” – referring to Alabama’s Jan. 7 date with Texas in the Citi BCS National Championship Game in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena, Calif.
“I saw my mom crying and I started to break down, too,” said Ingram. “It was a real special moment for me and I’m sure I will remember it the rest of my life.”
There was joy and laughter as well.
At one moment during the ESPN telecast when asked which one of the Heisman candidates he favored, Ingram pointed out that he had enjoyed seeing Tebow playing “when I was in high school” – and it drew a huge laugh.
Despite all the great players in Alabama history – Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, Lee Roy Jordan, etc. – Ingram is the first Heisman man. Coach Nick Saban said at the ceremony that Ingram’s victory “filled a hole in the history of a school with 22 SEC titles and 12 national championships.”
Saban said this was a case when “time and circumstances” came together for Alabama. He noted that he also coached Mark’s father when he was the defensive coordinator at Michigan State.
At least it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Tim had no chance, however.
When I checked in the media room at the Marriott Marquis Hotel late Saturday afternoon, a guy in front of me inquired of the credential woman behind the desk, “What number Heisman is this?”
“Seventy-fifth,” she immediately responded. “But we’ve only had 73 winners because Archie Griffin won it twice.”
There was a pause, and then she astutely added: “And if Tim Tebow wins it again, there will still only be 73.”
I asked Tebow to reflect on that special night in ’07 when he and Urban Meyer walked arm-in-arm down Broadway after Tim had won it.
“That night was special, very special,” Tebow recalled. “A lot of nerves, obviously. Being there with players I respected and players who had great seasons. Having the opportunity to win it that night, the whirlwind, everything you go through … an opportunity to do it as a sophomore, just like Mark, so I sort of knew what he was going through. It’s something he’ll never forget. There’ll be a lot of nights when things happen, but you’ll never forget the night you won the Heisman Trophy.”
There’s a reason only one man has ever won it more than once – because it’s nigh impossible and the stars have to line up just right. It’s tough to win even one, as Alabama fans have finally realized.
Some of us think Tebow got hosed out of a second one last year when he led Florida to a national championship, spearheading fourth-quarter drives to defeat Oklahoma and the quarterback who did win it, Sam Bradford. There was a clear Big 12 bias in the vote because although Tebow got more first places (309) than anyone, he was left completely off by 91 balloters.
Tebow even finished behind second-place finisher McCoy last year, even though the Texas quarterback had 45 fewer first-place votes.
The feeling was that Tebow was hurt last year by his own ridiculous numbers from when he won the Heisman in 2007, including the fact that he had become the only player in college football history to pass for 20 touchdowns and run for 20.
And then there is the theory out there that there was just a “Tim Tebow hangover” nationally—that he had been the center of attention for three years, that some people considered him “goody two shoes” and, frankly, he and his Gator team had hogged the spotlight long enough. And I think there is some of that perception around the land, although I don’t necessarily agree.
In the end, Tebow’s failure to come up big and his team’s loss to Alabama seemed to ruin any chance he might have had.
At home, Tebow’s legend will only continue to grow over the years as a player who gave his all – maybe gave too much. In the end perhaps he would have benefited more personally by leaving after his junior season.
Maybe when we turn the page to a new chapter, only then we will be able to look back and realize that Tim Tebow was one of a kind, that his impact as a person was felt around the world and that the likes of him will never again be seen in these parts – certainly not dressed in an orange-and-blue Gator football uniform.
And that in reality, the Heisman Trophy will be only a grain of sand when it comes to the accomplishments and contributions he will make in his lifetime. All of which winning or not winning the Heisman again would seem rather insignificant.