MIAMI, Fla. – When DeVonta Smith’s name was called on January 5th, 2021, it marked just the fourth time in history that a wide receiver has won the Heisman Memorial Trophy. Adding to the feat, he is the first winner of the award at his position since Desmond Howard won the award in 1991.
Monday night, Smith will have the chance to become the first Heisman winning wideout to win a National Title in the same year as winning the award. Johnny Rodgers was the lone wideout to win a National Title, and he actually won two (1970,1971). This is a stat that Smith can tie on Monday night. However, with a win, he would become the only wideout to win the title game in his Heisman season.
“Last night was a great feeling. It was just a blessing just to be in that situation, to be with Mac and Coach Saban here last night. But now that’s in the past, and now it’s on to Ohio State” said Smith at CFP National Championship Media Day, the day after winning the award.
Though humble and streamline-focused on the mission, Smith’s feat isn’t one that can be shied away from. His 1,641 receiving yards this season are just 86 away from the Alabama all-time season record, held by Amari Cooper. Smith (223) is also only five receptions away from Cooper’s career record of 228.
Smith is the all-time receiving yards record holder with 3,750 and adds the single-season TD receiving record to his mantel, with 20 this season.
Adding more to the significance of Smith’s Heisman season is that he was one of three Tide players considered for the award. QB Mac Jones finished third in the Heisman vote, and RB Najee Harris finished 5th in the voting. The two didn’t end the season with an empty mantle, though, with Jones winning the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s best QB and Harris capturing the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best RB.
The Alabama stable of talent always runs deep, yet this year it was at another level in comparison with the rest of the country, and it didn’t go unnoticed by head coach Nick Saban.
“I’d like to take a moment to congratulate Smitty on winning the Heisman and also Mac and Najee for being finalists. I think this is the first time for a long time that three guys from the same team have put themselves in that position, and all these guys are fine young men and have done a great job of representing our program and have certainly played outstanding football for us.”, said Saban at CFP National Championship Media Day.
Monday night, the three will have a chance to light up the scoreboard one final time in the season that almost didn’t happen. For Smith, he has once again put himself in a position to capture history.
Written by Adrian Beecher
