Bryce Young reacts to becoming first Alabama quarterback to win Heisman

Alabama quarterback Bryce Young just carved out his place in an exclusive group, and he even created a group of his own. 

Young won the 2021 Heisman Trophy in New York City on Saturday night, becoming the fourth Alabama player to win the award. All four have come in 2009 or later. However, the other three winners played running back or wide receiver. In other words, Young became the first quarterback in the history of one of college football’s more storied programs to win the Heisman Trophy. 

Shortly after hoisting the award up while family, friends and fans watched, Young reacted to the win.

“It’s a surreal experience, it’s an extreme blessing,” Young said. “I’m blessed to have that experience. To hear your name called, it is surreal. To share this weekend with the great players around me who were also there, it just makes it that much more a huge blessing.”

The always-humble California native used his acceptance speech to thank everyone from his parents to his offensive line. Alabama returned just three starters on the offensive side of the ball this season, and while it was not always pretty, the offensive unit found a way to win 12 games and earn the program’s seventh appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Young also took a moment on Saturday to comment specifically on being the inaugural signal caller to bring the award back to Tuscaloosa.

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Young said. “Like you said, there’s such a rich quarterback history here, and there’s been so many greats that have came before me. It’s really crazy to think that no one else has actually won the award at that position.”

While neither of them brought home the award, Alabama has sent multiple quarterbacks to New York in recent years. Mac Jones was a finalist in 2020 and Tua Tagovailoa was a finalist in 2018. Jones finished third, while Tagovailoa finished second.

“But for myself to now have won the award, it’s a huge honor,” Young added. “It was big for me understanding the quarterback tradition and the standard that it was to play quarterback at University of Alabama. It was important for me to live up to that and try to meet that standard. I still feel like I have a long way to go. There’s a lot more me to improve on and get better at, so the journey is definitely not complete, but for this to be a big milestone and for me to do all I can to help kind of push forward that standard and hold that precedent, it means a lot to me.”

Young would love to win a second national championship while at Alabama, this time as the starting quarterback. On Dec. 31, he will get a shot to advance to the national title game when Alabama faces Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl.

Young also has to stay in Tuscaloosa for another year, as he is only a sophomore. He has made just 13 career starts.