Mark Ingram, Immortalized: Alabama’s Star RB Becomes The 75th Heisman Winner

Just like that, Mark Ingram’s name will be known to college football fans for decades to come. Tonight he was named this year’s winner of the Heisman Trophy, the first player from Alabama to win the prestigious trophy. During his acceptance speech, Ingram made sure to share the credit: “I’d like to thank my teammates. It truly is a team award, and they’ve had a tremendous amount to do with my success.” And before he got there, Ingram was overcome by emotions, with tears streaming down his face as he embraced the moment:

It was the closest Heisman race of all time--just 28 points separated Ingram from Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, who finished as the runner-up--as Colt McCoy and Suh garnered a significant chunk of the votes despite finishing 3rd and 4th, respectively. But however close, Ingram finished on top, and as a result, he’ll be remembered for years to come.

If you wonder why people are rooting for Mark Ingram tonight, it’s simple: he’s not them.

Finally, we have the two frontrunners, Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, and Alabama’s Mark Ingram. On some level, we’re talking about the same player, here. Both Gerhart and Ingram have been consistent all year, they both are the primary anchors for their team’s offense, and both had definitive “Heisman moments” before a National TV audience.

Against Notre Dame on national television two weeks ago, Gerhart bulldozed his way to 205 yards against the Irish defense, and threw a touchdown in addition to running for three others, one of which proved to be the game-winner. A pretty emphatic statement for Gerhart, and one that had ABC’s Brent Musberger openly cooing about Gerhart’s Heisman candidacy and NFL potential all throughout the broadcast.

Simple as this: Colt McCoy has been the best player for an undefeated Texas team this season, and like Tebow, he’s been their best player for a few years now. He’s shown uncanny moxie on-and-off-the-field, and unlike Tebow, this year’s been one of his best. He’s thrown for more than 3,500 yards, completed 70% of his passes, and thrown for 27 touchdowns. Not bad, eh? Enough to win the Johnny Unitas award for the nation’s best quarterback.

But more than that, he’s got the Longhorns on the verge of a national title, another in a series of impeccable seasons for McCoy. The only problem? All year long, McCoy’s been sort of unremarkable in the spotlight. Not bad, by any stretch, but not the sort of dominating, captivating superstar befitting a Heisman Trophy. Just last week, against Nebraska, he was upstaged by Ndamukong Suh, and even though Texas won, Colt McCoy left fans and media feeling ambivalent about his abilities as a passer.

Tim Tebow’s story has been told and re-told and told once more. Everyone knows the words. From a deeply religious family, Tim Tebow was home-schooled before becoming a legend at his Jacksonville high school. And right around the time Tebow was making waves on the high school football field, Urban Meyer took over at Florida and made Tebow a top recruiting priority. The rest, as they say, is history.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Tebow’s time at Florida has been the stuff of legend. If college football had its own history textbook, the Tebow’s Gators over the past four years would have its own chapter. Truly, he’s been that good, for that long. Even as a freshman, he played a key role for Meyer’s Gators, and had fans in the swamp cooing over his every move on-and-off-the-field.

Oh, and did we mention the final candidate?

To give you an idea of just how monstrous his play’s been this season, I was even able to spell his name on the first try. That’s how often we’ve been compelled to mention the Nebraska defensive lineman this year.