Heisman Trophy comes home to Mark Ingram
Running back Mark Ingram won the 2009 Heisman Trophy playing for Alabama’s undefeated BCS national-championship team. But Ingram didn’t have the Heisman until recently.
“It was at my mom’s house for – what? — from 2009 until 2024,” Ingram said during an appearance on “The Ross Tucker Podcast.” “She just brought it to me. She moved down across the street from me in Florida, and she just brought it to me. I’ve had it in my man cave in my house in Delray Beach for about seven months now.”
Ingram was asked which he would choose if he could have only one — the Heisman Trophy or the national championship.
Ingram immediately answered, “National championship.”
“It’s a team game, man,” Ingram said, “and I wouldn’t have won that Heisman without my team, so I got to go with the team award, man. And the ultimate goal is to be a national champion. Like, you’re the best in the world at that time, or, well, the best in the nation. And I have to go national championship, man, because of the blood, sweat and tears you put in with your brothers to be able to hoist up that crystal ball all together. I feel like there’s nothing like it, and I feel like if I wasn’t on that team, if I hadn’t had my teammates, I wouldn’t have won the Heisman anyway, so I had to go first with my teammates because we, obviously, won that championship. But I was on a great team with great teammates, and I feel like they helped me win the Heisman as well. …
“Individual stuff is just a bonus. Like, it’s just extra icing on the cake. You know what I mean? And when you are a champion, you get to walk together with your brothers forever. You guys are intertwined forever. You have an individual award, like, you get celebrate it with yourself. Like, that’s not fun. But when you all come together from a championship mindset, like, whenever I see my brothers that I won championships with it’s like, ‘Bro,’ like, ‘I love you. I miss you. You remember this, this, this, this, this. We was doing that, that, that, that, that. Oh, by the way, we doing this.’ Like, it’s just when you win a championship, you walk together forever, and that’s what’s special about sports.”
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After Alabama, Ingram joined the New Orleans Saints as a first-round selection in the 2011 NFL Draft. During his 12 seasons in the NFL, he ran 1,817 times for 8,111 yards and 65 touchdowns and caught 303 passes for 2,125 yards and 10 touchdowns. Ingram recorded three 1,000-yard rushing seasons and went to the Pro Bowl three times.
Since leaving the NFL, Ingram has joined FOX Sports and appears on “Big Noon Kickoff” during the college football season.
“I’m blessed, man,” Ingram said. “I’m so thankful to be able to have a smooth transition into a great job with great people supporting me. …
“It’s fun. Like, literally, I’m working at a football party. I’m, like, we go to a campus. The students are turned up. They’re energetic. There’s music. We’re at a big game. We’re talking ball with my friends. Like, I’m not working. Like, I’m having fun, bro. I haven’t worked a day in my life, man, and God is good. I’m so blessed that I was able to transition into such a job that I thoroughly enjoy.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.