Bryce Young gives thoughtful answer on handling Heisman success

Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy, but it’s still all about the team for the Alabama quarterback. Prior to the Cotton Bowl, the Crimson Tide star gave a thoughtful answer on handling his Heisman success.

“Being able to win accolades is a huge blessing, and a huge honor,” stated Young. “But for me – at least individually – I understand that winning an award like that is great, and I understand that for what it is — it reflects what I’ve done in the past. Which is a huge blessing. But it’s exactly that. It’s in the past. What I won was about what I’ve done in the past. Which is great — but it doesn’t entitle me to anything in the future.

“That’s a looking back type of trophy. That doesn’t do anything for me going in, that doesn’t mean anything and that’s not going to help us at all. So, it doesn’t change how I approach anything. It doesn’t make any difference for me.”

While the Heisman forever enshrined Young in the history of the sport, he’s looking for more success from the 2021 season.

Young: ‘I understand just being a part of Alabama — that’s a place you come for expectations.’

Continuing, Young elaborated on the expectations that are placed on your shoulders when you join the Crimson Tide

“I understand just being a part of Alabama — that’s a place you come for expectations,” stated Young. “You understand what it’s like. It’s not something that’s uncommon for us to have expectations, for us to have whatever hype around our name that we have— but we understand that doesn’t leave us entitled to anything. We have to work.

“As a team, we have to earn everything. Individually, I have to earn everything. And that doesn’t change, regardless of what’s going on and whatever external circumstances may say or may change for me and us as a team. We understand we have to earn everything – take everything – and we’re on that push as a team to put ourselves in the best position when it comes to Friday.”

Bryce Young is already having a tremendous season, but he’s looking to make it one of the best ever with a national championship to cap it off.

Bill O’Brien: ‘Bryce is a tremendous young man.’

Moreover, Bryce Young is making a huge impression on his offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien. Ahead of the Cotton Bowl, O’Brien couldn’t stop singing the praises of his quarterback.

“Bryce is a tremendous young man,” stated O’Brien. “He’s very smart, he’s very poised, he’s very humble, he’s a great teammate. Every great quarterback that I’ve been fortunate to be around has those qualities.

“They’re all different. They all come in different shapes and sizes and things like that, but they all have those qualities. And the quality of humility is a tremendous quality that he has. When he went to the Heisman, when he came back, he made that statement to me — ‘I’m very grateful and very honored to be the Heisman Trophy winner, but we have more to do. There’s more out there for me to do.’ He’s a young man that really gets it, and he’s practiced really well the last couple weeks for a very, very challenging game on Friday against a really good defense. But I can’t emphasize enough the special qualities that Bryce has.”

Bill O’Brien has been around a ton of great quarterbacks in the past. However, Bryce Young is still making an impact on the veteran coach.