Heisman finalists share on Stetson Bennett, his skillset

NEW YORK — Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett and the three other finalists for the Heisman Trophy spoke to media members on Friday afternoon before their big day on Saturday. That’s when the winner of the most prestigious award in all of College Football will be announced for the 88th time. USC’s Caleb Williams is the overwhelming favorite, but all four had compliments to pay the other finalists. Here’s what was said by TCU’s Max Duggan, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud and Williams about Bennett.

Max Duggan

On Stetson Bennett

“Yeah, so obviously I just met Stetson this weekend, but you see it and you remember his story and everything that he went through and taking Georgia to a national championship and winning it, what he’s done this year. It’s been incredible. You know, you see that it’s the work ethic, what a leader he is. You know, the kid’s a special player. You watch him on Saturdays. The dude, yeah, he makes those things roll down there, so yeah, he’s a tremendous player.”

On what it says about a former walk on to be able to accomplish what he has

“It’s awesome, you know? It shows a lot of self-belief, that he believes in himself and he’s going to continue to work, continue to get better. You know, not anybody can tell him what he needs to do, so it’s been awesome to watch.”

CJ Stroud

On Stetson Bennett

“Oh yeah, we literally were just talking about it on the way up man. I take my hat off to him because it’s like when you give somebody every reason to quit, every reason to stop playing and then just keep going and they find every way to get a win — and winning isn’t just on Saturdays. They’re in the weight room, they’re behind closed doors. Those are the real wins in my eyes because those are the hardest ones when no one’s looking. And when you can just add those up and just keep being a good person and keep doing things the right way, I mean, who else do you want, you know what I’m saying? So, I tip my hat to him. He’s done great things, and he has a national championship. The guy’s a finalist, man, so he’s doing things that people were all on five-star, four-star radars hope to do. He’s doing that on whatever — even though that stuff doesn’t really matter. 

But I mean, I really commend him for that, and I told him today, ‘Bruh, that’s dope that you can inspire other people to do the same.’ That’s the thing about football: It doesn’t matter what size you are, what color, where you come from, this game at the end of the day can you make you humble and it’ll show you who you really are as a man. And I definitely think that he stepped up to the plate, so I tip my hat off to him.”

More on Bennett

“You can tell, every time something tough has come in his life, whatever it may be, he’s stepped up with his chin up and his chest out. You can do nothing but respect that. I tip my cap off for him. At the end of the day, that’s a hard road to go on, I been on it myself. A lot of people don’t believe in you, they tell you that you’re crazy and that your dreams probably won’t work out. But to be honest, if people aren’t telling you that, your dreams aren’t big enough so I definitely think I tip my hat off to him. I wish much success and health to him.”

Caleb Williams

On Stetson Bennett

“The only person I hadn’t really met before was Max, but he’s a cool guy. CJ I’ve known from a couple of camps and we’ve met throughout the football world. Stetson Bennett, it’s kind of funny, he was actually my host on my visits at Georgia. It’s kind of funny how it’s come full circle, and him being here with me, it’s special. We texted the other day, and when we were upstairs, seeing each other’s faces and being the only four here, it’s pretty special.”