Stetson Bennett on shots at him for Hendon Hooker Heisman snub: 'I didn’t make that call'
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NEW YORK — Stetson Bennett is a Heisman Trophy finalist based on the online ballots filled out by more than 900 voters and tabulated by the accounting firm Deloitte.
Those votes also determined that Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker missed the cut of the four finalists.
Georgia football’s sixth-year quarterback has taken the wrath of some who felt like Hooker got shafted and like most things out there said about him, Bennett isn’t oblivious to it even if he tries to tune it out for the most part.
“Yeah, and also I don’t think it’s fair to Hendon,” Bennett said Friday from the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Manhattan a few hours after arriving in New York and a day before the trophy for top college player will be awarded.. “He’s a great player. I don’t think it should be spoke of in that light. I think he should be getting respect for the year that he had and not what could have been but what was. He almost not singlehandedly but was a main factor in that program changing course, you know? That’s always silly to me. As far as me getting hate for it, it doesn’t bother me really. I didn’t make that call. So.”
More:Why Georgia football went 30 years without a Heisman Trophy finalist before Stetson Bennett
The Volunteers quarterback won SEC offensive player of the year, finished No. 4 in voting for the Associated Press player of the year, one spot ahead of Bennett. Hooker was first-team All-SEC quarterback as voted by the league’s coaches and Bennett was second team.
For the record, there was no duel between Bennett and Hooker for a Heisman spot a la Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton in the “Hamilton” musical at the close-by Richard Rodgers Theatre.
“Stetson’s a great player, man,” 2004 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matthew Leinart from Southern Cal said Friday. “What he’s done obviously winning the title last year and then putting himself in position again with that team, it’s remarkable. I don’t really care what people say, he’s a competitor, he’s a great player, a great leader for that team. It’s as clear as day.”
Joel Klatt, the Fox Sports college football analyst, took to Twitter this week and said: ”…I am shocked Stetson is a finalist over Hendon Hooker, Michael Penix, Bo Nix, DTR (Dorian Trevor Thompson-Robinson,), Drake Maye or even Blake Corum for that matter...All of whom had better seasons than Bennett.”
He added in another tweet: “Bijan Robinson, Chase Brown, Zach Charbonnet, Marvin Harrison Jr....and others...Again, Bennett is a good player and perfect for Georgia...But hardly a Heisman finalist.”
Bennett, a former walk-on, has used people doubting him during his Georgia career to provide motivation and this is another example with only the No. 1 Bulldogs’ playoff game against No. 4 Ohio State and a possible national title game after remaining in his college career.
“I’d say it probably keeps me humbled,” he said. “I don’t go into a workout with a copy of a tweet, but it probably should like, it’s almost more like a culture thing. I mean that in the way those thousands of not good enough that you talk about have kind of seeped into my brain. I’m not saying I’m not good enough, but saying, all right, you’re not there yet. Because I remember what it was like to not be there then and it did kind of suck. Now, it’s like we’re still not there yet, so we’ll keep going.”
Those that saw Bennett pick himself up off a junior college field in Mississippi in 2018 and get to not only lead Georgia to a 14-1 record and the national title last season but follow it up with a 13-0 season entering a playoff matchup with Ohio State after winning the SEC title.
“How do you not put him in the Heisman Trophy (ceremony)?” Steve Buckley, who coached Bennett at Jones College in Ellisville, Miss., and remains close to him, said after making 17 home visits over a two-day period this week. “He’s defied all odds. He’s busted his butt and he has a fricking winning quarterback at the University of Georgia. What else can you say?”
Alex Golesh, the Tennessee offensive coordinator this season, said during his Broyles Award speech on Tuesday that Hooker should have got a chance to go to New York because no player that did get invited is better.
Hooker ranks second nationally in passing efficiency (175.5) and 14th in passing yards per game (285.0) compared to 23rd for Bennett (154.6) and 26th (263.5), but Bennett has played in Georgia’s biggest games including a head-to-head matchup with Hooker and Tennessee that Georgia won 27-13.
Hooker and Tennessee also were blown out by South Carolina 63-38 in November in a game where Hooker’s season ended with a torn ACL.
Bennett has 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions with 7 rushing touchdowns while Hooker had 27 touchdowns to 2 interceptions with 5 rushing touchdowns.
“Stetson’s a great player, man,” Leinart said. “What he’s done obviously winning the title last year and then putting himself in position again with that team, it’s remarkable. I don’t really care what people say, he’s a competitor, he’s a great player, a great leader for that team. It’s as clear as day.”
Leinart these days is seen on Fox’s Saturday morning pregame show as an analyst.
“We kind of talked about it on our show,” Leinart said. “He’s no longer kind of you can win with him as your quarterback. Last year it was manage and you’ve got a great defense. He’s elevated people around him I think. That’s because of his confidence and the way that he plays.”
Leinart thinks Hooker—who it was revealed Thursday night finished No. 5 in the voting—should have received an invite as well.
“Being a Heisman winner and being here, I always said the more the merrier, man,” Leinart said. “There were so many guys that were deserving of being here and experiencing this weekend. Blake Corum from Michigan as well. It’s a bummer that some guys don’t get to experience it, but that has nothing to do with Stetson. I just think Hooker should have been here as well. He had a fantastic year.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: How UGA Heisman finalist views shots at him for Hendon Hooker snub
