Alabama’s Derrick Henry realizes dream of winning Heisman Trophy

Most people would point to Alabama’s 30-16 win over LSU as Henry’s de facto “Heisman moment”.

Colorado’s own, Christian McCaffrey, finished second in Heisman voting to Alabama’s Derrick Henry, who became the second Alabama player to receive college football’s most prestigious player of the year award. Since running back Ingram won the award in 2009, it had gone to quarterbacks for five straight seasons. Mark Ingram won the award in 2009 ironically over another Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. His competition was Stanford’s rocket-fast punt returner Christian McCaffrey (1,539) and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (1,165). He had received the most points (1,832) for the award versus fellow nominees.

The 242-pound Henry broke Herschel Walker’s Southeastern Conference record with 1,986 yards rushing and matched an SEC mark with 23 touchdowns. Below the top three was a huge gap down to Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield (334) and Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds (180).

“I nearly feel off my chair I was so happy”, Henry said.

Gladys Henry has been hospitalized for weeks in Florida with heart and respiratory problems.

1,335 days later, Henry had to hold back tears as that dream finally was realized.

Henry, Watson and McCaffrey arrived Friday in NY from Atlanta, where they attended the ESPN awards show at the College Football Hall of Fame.

“Anytime I was struggling you were always there for me”, he said. He ran for 189 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries in the Alabama’s SEC championship game victory against Florida last Saturday.

‘One day I said something to him and he said, “Coach, all this stuff is new to me”.

Henry was a backup on a crowded depth chart as a freshman and thought about transferring, but with the encouragement of his family made a decision to stay put.

This season as a junior, with Alabama breaking in a first-time starting quarterback and inexperienced receivers, coach Nick Saban and the Tide made a decision to hook the offense to Henry.

After Ingram won the Heisman in ’09, he helped Alabama win the national championship about a month later. The Tide (12-1) plays Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl on December 31.