HEISMAN MEMORIAL TROPHY PRESENTATION

December 11, 2021

Bryce Young

Media Conference

Q. In your speech you said you're an African-American, some would say you're undersized, skinny, not the prototypical quarterback, but you said it wasn't about proving them wrong, it was about proving to yourself how great you could become. After winning the Heisman Trophy - you're only a sophomore - how great can Bryce Young become?

BRYCE YOUNG: You know, that's kind of up for me and my future to decide. For me, it's about really working day in and day out to push yourself. I'm not really somebody who looks into the future and sets these specific landmarks. I believe in God and trust his process and believe if I work as hard as I can and do all things and follow his path, he'll take me on the route that he wants to take me.

I don't believe that's a question for me to answer. I just trust God and his plan, and I want to do all I can to fulfill that.

Q. We've talked about being calm and cool during this process, but when your name got announced, what was going through your mind?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, it's crazy. You dream of moments like that. It's surreal for something like that to happen.

You know, it was a whirlwind of emotion for sure hearing your name and then composing yourself to speak, so it was really surreal, and it was truly an honor and a blessing.

Q. You mentioned just how you felt; I'm just wondering if you can compare it to, because you're always so calm, were you more nervous before they announced your name or were you more nervous before Auburn 97 yards away from the end zone?

BRYCE YOUNG: That's a good question. In some ways I guess you could say more nervous today just because it's something that's out of your control. You can't do anything about it. There's also kind of clarity and calmness that comes in that, but since I knew there wasn't something I could actively do about it or something I could actively receive, it's out of your control, so try to disconnect yourself from stuff like that. But when it's something as big as this, it can be hard at times.

Q. How cool is it to share this trophy with Devonta Smith, your receiver last year?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, it's amazing. Smitty definitely taught me a lot last year, seeing how he operated and getting to see how he worked. For him to win this award last year, it was huge and very inspiring, and now for me to be able to win it this year, that's something I don't take for granted at all. Also hearing that message he gave at the end of the ceremony, that was surreal to have a moment like that.

Q. As important as a game plan might be during any given game, how important to you and to the coach maybe are kind of big plays, spontaneous plays maybe when you're off the map maybe?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah. You know, you try to make as many of those big plays as possible. For us it's just about being successful and being positive, and whatever you can learn from it, you take it and learn from that, and then the positives you want to build from, so that's kind of been a big thing for us and just trying to -- for us as a team individually just trying to improve each and every day.

Q. I know your moment in this Heisman brotherhood is albeit brief right now, but what's it like having been on that stage along fellow winners of the past?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, no, it's a huge blessing to see the people on the stage and to be surrounded by all those great athletes of the past and for them to welcome me into the Heisman fraternity. That means a lot. This obviously is an extremely prestigious award with so many great winners of the past, and for a good number of them to be here and to be able to shake their hand, that meant a lot to me.

Q. We spoke earlier about your relationship with CJ Stroud. He was the first person you embraced when you won this award. What does sharing that moment with him mean to you?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, I mean, this whole weekend has been huge for both of us. That's someone I'm really close with on and off the field, someone I've known for a while. We always root for each other. We always have each other's back. We were both super excited to be here.

For him to be the first person to congratulate me, say he was proud of me and all that, that meant a lot. That's someone I consider a brother. For him to encourage me and be happy for me in a moment like this, as we always are for each other, and just be able to have this whole weekend, this whole experience this season, that was a ton of fun.

Q. Being the first Alabama quarterback to win this award and Mac Jones obviously being a candidate for the award last season, was there anything you learned from him that you think helped you throughout the season and to win this award specifically?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, whenever there's someone that's that good of a player and have done the things that they have done, whenever there's guys that have that type of knowledge and wisdom and experience, you can always learn from people like that. For me, whatever I can get to grow as an individual and a player, whatever it may be, I always have respect for the people of the past. There's always opportunities for me and go and build off of things like that.

Q. You've had a about an hour to digest the moment; is there anyone else you would like to thank or any thoughts you would like to express?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah. I mean, there's a tremendous amount of people that go into an award like this. Something like this is such a blessing, and as it's presented to one individual, it takes a countless amount of people in order to accomplish something like this. I'm extremely grateful for all the people that made the trip out with me, all the people at Alabama that facilitated this and made this possible, for the fans that have supported me and entire team through thick and thin, for everyone who's been involved.

This is a huge accomplishment for myself, and again, as it goes down as an individual award, but this is a reflection of the people around me that have made something like this possible.

Q. Kind of a rebound off my last question, what advice do you have for that little kid who is also doubted right now the same way you were and wants to be in your shoes?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, I think it's important to really focus on yourself and what you can control. If you feed off of others' negativity, you have to understand whether you're doing well, doing not so well, whatever stage in life you're in, there's going to be people who don't believe in you, who doubt, who aren't sending positivity, whatever it may be, and when you start to invest so much of your energy into something you can't control, it gets hectic. It's hard to be stable. It's hard to fully maximize your potential.

The most important thing you have to do is believe in yourself, find yourself, understand what motivates you, what you want to do, what you want to accomplish, and there's no problem with maybe struggling or taking time to find that, but once you find that, you just have to invest everything in yourself, believe in yourself, and it's important to not let others, whatever it may be, whether it's whatever doubts that others may have, you have to do what you feel like is best and believe in yourself, and at the end of the day that's who you're going to have.

You can always accomplish anything through God's grace and hard work.

Q. Bryce, just want to ask you this real quick: Alabama has a rich tradition, a rich history going back over 100 years, and you just became the first quarterback from Alabama to win the Heisman Trophy. This is the same school that produced Joe Namath. Describe what's it like, and what do you take from being the first quarterback in Alabama history to win college football's most prestigious award?

BRYCE YOUNG: You know, it's a tremendous honor. 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. But for myself to now have won the award, it's a huge honor.

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.

Q. I know there's another trophy you've got your mind on. Is it back to work now?

BRYCE YOUNG: Yeah, a hundred percent. This is a huge honor, a huge blessing. This is something that's surreal to accomplish and I'll remember for the rest of my life. But at the end of the day this wasn't the goal, and the goal is not completed yet. For us it's just giving it our all for -- we have really a one-game season. We have to do everything we can do to prepare. We have to work harder than we have before. It's going to take everything for us to be successful in this next game, and that's what we need to do.

This is a huge blessing. This is something I'm going to be grateful for forever, but this isn't the end goal, and there's a lot more for me individually to work on and for us as a team to accomplish.

Q. I want to make sure I've got -- is your chain gold or is your chain -- it's hard to tell from here. I want to make sure I describe it right. Beautiful, by the way.

BRYCE YOUNG: Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah, there's some diamonds on here and gold. It's like a gold-plated in the back. But yeah, there's diamonds on here.