As a native of the Inland Empire region of Southern California just outside of Los Angeles, C.J. Stroud is accustomed to life in the big city. But his first-ever trip to New York for this weekend’s Heisman Trophy ceremony still made an impression on the Ohio State quarterback.
“I’m definitely a city boy but this is kind of different. There’s a lot going on. People drive crazy out here,” Stroud said at Saturday’s finalist press conference before the Heisman ceremony, eliciting laughs from the crowd.
Stroud didn’t win the Heisman on Saturday night, and it would have been a surprise if he did. As expected, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the award by a decisive margin. Stroud ended up finishing fourth in the Heisman race, also behind Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Still, there will be plenty of positive memories for Stroud to take away from the weekend. He told reporters in New York that just being there after his first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback was a special honor in itself.
“I’m in awe, man,” Stroud said. “I remember those days where I ain’t think working out was really necessary or I didn’t think it was gonna pay off, and now it kind of is.”
One thing that made the weekend special for Stroud was the opportunity to spend time with Young, who he’s known since they played against each other in middle school football. The two Southern California natives both described one another as their “brother” on Saturday, so Stroud was happy for Young’s success – he was the first to embrace and congratulate Young after Young’s name was called – even though he would have loved to win the award himself.
“When you have a brother like that, it's a great feeling, and I'm really proud of him, and I know he's proud of me,” Stroud said before Saturday night’s ceremony. “We root for each other every week.”
Despite what happened in Ann Arbor two weeks earlier, Stroud even enjoyed getting to know Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson as the Heisman finalists explored New York together.
“At the end of the day, we’re all human beings here,” Stroud said. “Football is a game, and I think it’s the right thing to do and the professional thing to do is just to leave a game in the game. So he’s a great player, but just meeting him now, you can tell he’s a great dude, comes from a great family so I have nothing but respect for him and his game.
“He’s really down to earth. We didn’t really talk about the game, we kind of just talked about life and where we’re from and different things like that, our backgrounds. So it’s really not about football when you’re at things like this. It’s just about building up a relationship. Because you never know, maybe one day we could be teammates (in the NFL).”
C.J. Stroud spent plenty of time with both Aidan Hutchinson and Bryce Young as the Heisman finalists toured New York together on Friday and Saturday. (Photo: The Heisman Trophy Trust)
Stroud also had the opportunity to talk to two of Ohio State’s previous Heisman Trophy winners while in New York, as he met two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin on Friday night and spoke with 2006 winner Troy Smith on Saturday morning. Those conversations served as a reminder to Stroud of the rich tradition he’s a part of by being Ohio State’s most recent Heisman finalist.
“I’m definitely blessed to have the brotherhood that we have at Ohio State and I hope that I keep on the legacy,” Stroud said. “Hopefully I’m making them proud, and I really hope I’m making Buckeye Nation proud.”
Stroud paid homage to Smith, Griffin and the rest of Ohio State’s Heisman winners with the suit he wore to Saturday night’s ceremony, which featured pictures of all of the Buckeyes’ seven previous Heisman winners on the lining.
Honoring The Heisman Brotherhood. @CJ7STROUD #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/fDuMQPwK3X
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 11, 2021
While Stroud didn’t get a trophy to bring back with him to Columbus on Saturday night, he’ll get another chance to make a run at the award next year, when he – along with Young, who’s still a year away from being NFL draft-eligible – will undoubtedly enter the season as one of the frontrunners to win the Heisman.
He knows he’ll need to work just as hard as he has this year just to get back to New York as a finalist – and more importantly, for Ohio State to accomplish the goals it wasn’t able to accomplish this year, like beating Michigan, making the College Football Playoff and competing for a national championship.
“I know that I’m not gonna jump ahead and jump to conclusions,” Stroud said. “I’ll have to have a great offseason, a great time with Coach Mick getting bigger, getting stronger and faster, work on my mechanics, work on my footwork and just keep getting better and better. So we can possibly do the things that we really want to do during the season.”
That said, Stroud has plenty of confidence in himself that he can have another Heisman-caliber season next year, even with Chris Olave and likely Garrett Wilson leaving for the NFL.
“My guys are gonna be just as good as Chris and Garrett or even better,” Stroud said. “And I know Chris and Garrett probably believe that. You can ask them that, they’ll say the same thing about Julian (Fleming), about Emeka (Egbuka), about Marvin (Harrison Jr.), about all the young guys coming in. So I have total trust in them.”
While some critics have argued whether Stroud deserved to even be a Heisman finalist this season, arguing that his success was a result of Olave, Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Stroud dismissed that critique on Saturday night, knowing how much work he put in to earn his invitation to the ceremony.
“At the end of the day, everybody plays with great players. This is college football. If you’ve got a problem with what I’m doing, I think you’ve got a problem with yourself,” Stroud said. “I know that I’m a great player and that I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. I’m truly blessed by God to be around the great players and coaches that I have, but I know that I hold my bargain up every time I step on the field.”
