Drumroll please…And the winner of the 75th Heisman Trophy Winner is Mark Ingram.
Congratulations! Viewers you patiently waited to hear the 5 second announcement for over an hour. Ingram took the title reigning over his competitors: Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Toby Gerhart, and Ndamukong Suh.
Mark Ingram exclaimed, “I am a I was worried about him, but he got it together and did a great job.”
“I knew she was going to fall apart,” said Art Johnson. “That’s her baby.
“So I held it back. I felt like I was going to fall down, but after I saw him on stage, I held it together.”
The emotional scene capped a whirlwind weekend for a family that was just proud to have their son and grandson among the five finalists.
Upon arriving in New York on Friday, they were treated to a bus tour of the city — including the Empire State Building and the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza — and then a reception at the Hard Rock Cafe, where all five players received a Heisman plaque — the first time that’s been done in the 75-year history of the award, said Barbara.
On Saturday, they met with Alabama coach Nick Saban and university president Dr. Robert E. Witt, then settled into their seats at the Nokia Theater for the hour-long Heisman Trophy Presentation.
Shonda Ingram already had tears streaming down her face after her son, Mark Ingram Jr., was named the Heisman Trophy winner Saturday night in New York.
And when Mark himself struggled to get through his emotional acceptance speech, his grandparents came to the rescue.
“I was pulling on him (mentally) to get through it, to get through his tears,” Barbara Johnson said by phone from the Nokia Theater Times Square, minutes after Ingram won the closest vote in Heisman history.
Ingram, the Flint Southwestern Academy graduate and now a sophomore running back at Alabama, edged Stanford back Toby Gerhart by 28 points for college football’s most prestigious award.
When the announcement was made, Ingram hugged his mother and grandparents (“He knocked my earring off with that hug,” said Barbara), then went up on stage.
“I got a little emotional when he hugged me,” said Shonda, whose tears were captured on the ESPN broadcast, “but when he went up on stage, it was a lot of tears. I was worried about him, but he got it together and and did a great job.”
“I knew she was going to fall apart,” said Art Johnson. “That’s her baby.
“So I held it back. I felt like I was going to fall down, but after I saw him on stage, I held it together.”
The emotional scene capped a whirlwind weekend for a family that was just proud to have their son and grandson among the five finalists.
Upon arriving in New York on Friday, they were treated to a bus tour of the city — including the Empire State Building and the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza — and then a reception at the Hard Rock Cafe, where all five players received a Heisman plaque — the first time that’s been done in the 75-year history of the award, said Barbara.
On Saturday, they met with Alabama coach Nick Saban and university president Dr. Robert E. Witt, then settled into their seats at the Nokia Theater for the hour-long Heisman Trophy Presentation.
