A Louisville football player just won the Heisman Trophy. Allow that to sink in for a moment.
For the first time in history, a Louisville Cardinal was won the most prestigious individual award in American sports.
Lamar Jackson, who a little over a year ago was a true freshman quarterback in the middle of an up-and-down rookie season in which he'd split starting time, is now the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner. He is the youngest player ever to receive the honor.
Jackson took his first major step towards winning the award all the way back on Sept. 1 when he scored eight first half touchdowns in Louisville's season-opening rout of Charlotte. Forty-three more touchdowns followed, as Jackson became the first player in FBS history to throw for at least 30 touchdowns and rush for at least 20 more in a 12-game regular season.
Also the winner of the Walter Camp and Maxwell awards given to college football's top overall performer, Jackson made more history in 2016 by becoming the first FBS player to throw for at least 3,300 yards and rush for at least 1,500 more. He set ACC and school records for touchdowns accounted for (51), total yards per game in a season (410.7), and points responsible for in a season (308).
Jackson is a now an un-erasable part of college football lore, but along with his individual honor comes an added degree of status for the program he represents. Louisville is now the 37th program in college football to produce a Heisman Trophy winner, an elite fraternity that has been dominated by the sport's most prominent powers for the past three decades. What exactly that means for the future of U of L football is still unclear, but it's a safe bet that any significant byproduct will be positive.
Much more on this is coming, but for now, let's simply celebrate.
The Heisman Trophy winner is a Louisville Cardinal. Unreal.
