2021 Heisman Trophy finalists succeeded through leadership and faith

The 2021 Heisman Trophy Ceremony honored the stellar football seasons of Alabama’s Bryce Young, Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson, Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, all extraordinary and talented young men with bright futures.

Crimson Tide fans were of course ecstatic that Young won the trophy, as Bama is in the hunt for another national title in the College Football Playoff. For Ohio State and Michigan fans, this was the first year that both schools produced Heisman finalists during the same season.

Another historic milestone marked by the ceremony was the 60th anniversary of Syracuse Heisman winner Ernie Davis, who was the first African American football player to win the award. Davis won during the heart of the civil rights movement with demonstrations still going strong around the nation in 1961. That year, the U.S. Freedom Riders tested the Supreme Court’s Boynton v. Virginia (1960) decision outlawing segregation in public transportation by organizing interstate bus rides, and Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter became the first Black students to enroll at the University of Georgia after extensive court battles.

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There were no Black head football coaches at Division I-A schools like Syracuse when Davis hoisted the Heisman hardware. Eighteen years would pass before Willie E. Jeffries became the first Black coach to run a major program when he took over for the Wichita State Shockers in 1979, a school that eventually disbanded its football team in 1986. With sports still very much a part of today’s social justice activism, reflecting on Davis’ trailblazing accomplishment at the Heisman ceremony was a fitting reminder of how far we have come.

Young, Hutchinson, Pickett and Stroud are just beginning to build their football legacies, and the personal stories of each highlighted by ESPN were very impressive. Hutchinson and Pickett are seniors, and we’ll definitely be seeing them play on Sundays. Young and Stroud, both native Californians and good friends, are projected as top quarterbacks for the 2023 NFL draft.

Another inspiring attribute that Young and Stroud share is their passionate faith in God. Stroud’s Heisman segment was simply titled “Keeping the Faith” and began with a scene of him reading Scripture as a youngster. If you do a widespread Google search on the Ohio State QB, “faith” pops up in several news headlines. Of all the Heisman finalists, Stroud, a redshirt freshman, most likely had the hardest path to New York City due to overcoming personal challenges growing up and enduring a rocky start in his first three OSU games while he was nursing a shoulder injury.

As he struggled, Stroud quickly learned how the fringe element of a college fan base can turn on a player. Impatient Buckeye fans clamored for his benching, and he got a baptism by fire in the media while he dealt with incessant online criticism. But as anyone who has played football knows, it’s a game of strategic precision, and Stroud found his stride mid-season, finishing second on an elite list of five former college quarterbacks who had the most passing yards per game against ranked opponents. Super Bowl LIV champion and former Texas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes is on that list, so Stroud ended up silencing his doubters in grand fashion.

Stroud and Young will be Heisman frontrunners when the 2022 college football season gets under way, and if Young wins again next year, he would join Ohio State’s Archie Griffin in the record books as a two-time Heisman winner. I am excited that Stroud and Young are two of the prominent stars in college football because they are outstanding role models for their peers and middle and high school athletes.

In a college football era that is being taken over by the allure of name, image and likeness deals and the transfer portal, Stroud and Young have remained grounded, humble and focused with a team-first mindset, exceptional leadership qualities that fire up their locker rooms. As they prepare for their post-season games, this quote from Young exemplifies the main reason he and Stroud strap on their helmets: “Really, my job is just to glorify God on the field, and I know that everything is written, and I can have faith and trust in that."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Leadership and faith helped 2021 Heisman Trophy finalists succeed