Watch Derrick Henry’s family react to him winning Heisman Trophy

Henry’s season isn’t done – he and the Crimson Tide take on Michigan State in the semifinal of the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Eve. Yes, the Crimson Tide are a more complete team than the Cardinal, but as already talked about, Henry was their offense and did it against a tough run defense on almost a weekly basis.

“Coming into Alabama from Florida, they all accepted me”, Henry said of his Alabama teammates during his Heisman speech. “It’s just been a blessing”. Henry, along with Clemson’s Deshaun Watson and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, is a finalist for the trophy which recognize…

“I don’t think it’ll hit me until that trophy joins Mark (Ingram’s) at the Alabama football facility”, Henry said. Ingram won it at the expense at another Stanford running back, Toby Gerhart – just like Henry over Christian McCaffrey – in the closest Heisman voting ever.

He received 1,832 points, 293 more than McCaffrey.

Clemson’s Watson, playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, threw for 3,512 yards and 30 TDs in leading the No. 1-ranked Tigers to an undefeated record, the only unbeaten team remaining. The past two weeks he has carried the ball 90 times, including 44 attempts for 189 yards in Alabama’s SEC title game victory over Florida.

For example, the Heisman Trophy is based on voters. “It’s his work ethic and ability to get right back up and go just as hard the next play that makes him special”.

Henry was born to teenage parents and raised with the strong influence of his grandmother, Gladys, in the small north Florida town of Yulee, which is just outside Jacksonville but very much country living.

Henry came to Alabama as a five-star recruit.

Mayfield, who went to high school in Austin, was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press on Sunday, but it came after he walked on at Texas Tech, then transferred to Oklahoma, where he also began as a walk on. God is good. I can’t wait to celebrate with my teammates and coaches. “I nearly feel off my chair I was so happy”, Henry said.

He was a backup on a crowded depth chart as a freshman and thought about transferring, but with the encouragement of his family chose to stay put. The Tide stuffed Fournette and Henry ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries, assuming the role of front-runner. In fact, until the recent run of SEC winners, players from that conference had taken the statuette south just seven times in the trophy’s first 73 years of existence. McCaffrey weighed in four pounds heavier in the 2015 season than he did in 2014. The Heisman used to be considered a running back award, but the only two who won in that stretch were Ingram and USC’s Reggie Bush, who had to vacate the 2005 award after it was discovered he accepted improper benefits from an agent while in school. Henry will try to do the same. With one more season of eligibility left and the Cotton Bowl on December 31 approaching, it will be exciting to see how much more Henry can accomplish along with his team.

Henry has not announced his intentions yet, but a jump to the National Football League seems likely after this season.

Henry said part of him is glad the process is over and he can return to practice later this week.