How realistic do you think your chances are [of winning the Heisman]? There are a lot of good football players out there.
Christian Ponder: We’ll find out. I have no idea. It’s hard to tell because there are so many good football players out there. You never know who’s going to have a good year. There’s always guys who are going to pop up that you haven’t heard of before. You never know, and then you add in the parity of college football going on right now, anyone can win games. So it’s tough. Who knows?
You said you want to win a national championship more than you do the Heisman Trophy. Do you think they can go hand in hand?
CP: I think so. For there to be consideration for the Heisman we’ve got to win some games. It’s the trend the past couple of years -- it’s gone to the best player on the best team. For us to get the attention and for me to get the attention we have to win games.
One of the other things I wanted to ask you about was the family perspective. You’re a legacy player, so what’s your dad saying about this, and how special is it just to have the opportunity and have your name mentioned in the same sentence as the Heisman Trophy knowing your dad played there?
CP: It’s been awesome. My dad has been very proud of what’s going on, he’s helped me throughout this whole process. I don’t think he could be any happier, but at the same time he’s always told me I have to work even harder. He’s kind of been the guy who’s always put pressure on me to perform and developed my work ethic and pushed me to where I’ve been. He’s excited and happy about where I’m going. With the Heisman, for me it’s always been a dream. I think it’s a dream of every little kid to have your name in the same sentence as the Heisman Trophy. Right now it’s pretty surreal.
Do you think it’s something that in order to get the recognition for it there has to be that dot-com campaign, or are you a believer in, ‘Hey, if I’m good enough, people will notice?’
CP: I think for me it’s a little different because getting hurt last year, it was hard to get the attention with guys who played all season and had good seasons. Missing four games definitely hurt. But if you play well and your team wins games, people are definitely going to notice.
And if you remember there was at least one person out there who named you first-team quarterback. But are you going to go ahead and try not to tackle guys who decide to pick you off this year?
CP: (He laughed.) Yeah I’ve been trying to limit the defensive plays a little bit and maybe slide a bit more.
Christian Ponder: We’ll find out. I have no idea. It’s hard to tell because there are so many good football players out there. You never know who’s going to have a good year. There’s always guys who are going to pop up that you haven’t heard of before. You never know, and then you add in the parity of college football going on right now, anyone can win games. So it’s tough. Who knows?
You said you want to win a national championship more than you do the Heisman Trophy. Do you think they can go hand in hand?
CP: I think so. For there to be consideration for the Heisman we’ve got to win some games. It’s the trend the past couple of years -- it’s gone to the best player on the best team. For us to get the attention and for me to get the attention we have to win games.
One of the other things I wanted to ask you about was the family perspective. You’re a legacy player, so what’s your dad saying about this, and how special is it just to have the opportunity and have your name mentioned in the same sentence as the Heisman Trophy knowing your dad played there?
CP: It’s been awesome. My dad has been very proud of what’s going on, he’s helped me throughout this whole process. I don’t think he could be any happier, but at the same time he’s always told me I have to work even harder. He’s kind of been the guy who’s always put pressure on me to perform and developed my work ethic and pushed me to where I’ve been. He’s excited and happy about where I’m going. With the Heisman, for me it’s always been a dream. I think it’s a dream of every little kid to have your name in the same sentence as the Heisman Trophy. Right now it’s pretty surreal.
Do you think it’s something that in order to get the recognition for it there has to be that dot-com campaign, or are you a believer in, ‘Hey, if I’m good enough, people will notice?’
CP: I think for me it’s a little different because getting hurt last year, it was hard to get the attention with guys who played all season and had good seasons. Missing four games definitely hurt. But if you play well and your team wins games, people are definitely going to notice.
And if you remember there was at least one person out there who named you first-team quarterback. But are you going to go ahead and try not to tackle guys who decide to pick you off this year?
CP: (He laughed.) Yeah I’ve been trying to limit the defensive plays a little bit and maybe slide a bit more.
Heather Dinich | email
College Football- ESPN.com ACC blogger
- Joined ESPN.com in 2007
- Wrote for The Baltimore Sun
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Heather Dinich
Dinich covered ACC and Big Ten football for five seasons before joining ESPN.com in November 2007. She's an Indiana grad but somehow her favorite day of the week is Saturday.
You must be signed in to post a comment