On December 1 2008 2008 Heisman winner Sam Bradford
On Dec. 12, 2008, the young man from Oklahoma City looked at the hotel ceiling in New York City and tried to make sense of everything that had just happened to him. “There were so many different emotions in me that night,” Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford said. “I was lying in bed at probably 3:30 or 4 in the morning and I was wide awake. There was no way I was going to bed that night. It was one of those nights you don’t ever want to end.” He had just won the Heisman Trophy, beating out Texas rival-turned good friend Colt McCoy and 2007 winner Tim Tebow of Florida. For a kid who at least one rating service said wasn’t even one of the five best college prospects in Oklahoma as a high school senior, being named the most outstanding player in America was a dizzying accomplishment. Pride and excitement helped him pull a satisfied all-nighter. Everything thereafter has sharpened Bradford’s appreciation for the 2008 regular season and that thrilling night in New York. Everything thereafter has been one long character check. It started when the Sooners lost the 2008 BCS Championship Game to Florida, with the nation’s highest-scoring offense held to just 14 points. Then came the 2009 season. Bradford returned to college instead of becoming a high first-round draft pick. With the Sooners aiming for the title that eluded them the year before, Bradford went down with a right shoulder injury halfway through the season opener. He returned more than a month later against Baylor, but then reinjured the shoulder early the next week against Texas and was done for the year. “It’s only been a year, but looking back you really do realize how special it is — how few people have won the Heisman,” Bradford said. “That’s a big part of winning the Heisman: staying healthy through a 14-game season.” Health willing, Bradford will have a long and lucrative NFL career. And even though injury took away his 2009 season, it cannot take away what he won in 2008. That belongs to Bradford forever.
— Pat Forde
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