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Derrick Henry 2015 Heisman Trophy Winner
Graphic/Photo Credit: RollTide.com
And then there were two.
Alabama junior running back Derrick Henry became the Crimson Tide's second Heisman Trophy winner tonight. Henry was presented the prestigious award at PlayStation Theatre in Times Square in New York tonight in a live telecast on ESPN. He is the 81st Heisman Memorial Trophy recipient. Henry's 1,832 total points beat out Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey and third place Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Alabama's head football coach, Nick Saban, gave Henry a standing ovation as the young man walked off the state. Throughout the acceptance speech Saban was beaming with pride for his young, humble and thankful running back.
Henry became choked up shortly into his speech. He had let it be known he didn't do this type thing every day, and he congratulated and complimented the other two finalists and said he was sure he would see them in New York again next year.
He thanked his family, teammates, coaching staff, administration and others. And, of course, the head coach. He told Saban from the podium, "I love you coach, man."
2009 was the last year a running back has won the Heisman, and that one went to another University of Alabama running back, Mark Ingram, who was the first to don the Crimson and White to take the coveted award.
The Yulee, Florida native has had a phenomenal season for the Crimson Tide. He has rushed this season for 1,986 yards on 339 carries and scored 23 touchdowns in just his first year as a starter. He broke the single-season rushing record at Alabama as well as the SEC single-season rushing record. Henry leads the country in rushing yards and touchdowns and is currently second in yards per game at 152.8. Henry has nine 100-yard rushing games this season, tying the record held by Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. He has four games this season of over 200 yards, joining Georgia's Herschel Walker and Auburn's Bo Jackson as the only three running backs in Southeastern Conference history to do so. Henry is tied for the lead in the all-time SEC single-season rushing touchdowns and has scored at least one touchdown in 18 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the country as well as having the designation of being the most by any player in SEC history.
Henry is a first team All-American selection by the Walter Camp Foundation and USA Today, the 2015 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year as well as selected to the first team All-SEC voted on by the conference head coaches. He is also the winner of the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Maxwell Award and Doak Walker Award. Only three other players in college football history have won all four awards in the same season.
Henry has played in 36 games during his career, posting 547 rushing attempts for 3,358 yards and 37 touchdowns. He is currently third on the Crimson Tide's career rushing list and fourth in rushing touchdowns.
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
Photo Credit: RollTide.com
