Kyler Murray told baseball to wait a year while he finished playing football.
It netted him the highest honor in the college game.
The Oklahoma quarterback was awarded the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in New York City, beating out Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Murray garnered 517 first-place votes and 2,167 total points. Tagovailoa was first on 299 ballots and earned 1,871 points, the most ever for a runner-up. Haskins received 46 first-place votes and 783 points.
"This is crazy," Murray said afterward in apparent disbelief. "This is an honor, something I'll never forget, something I'll always treasure for the rest of my life."
Murray's college football path has been a winding one, beginning at Texas A&M as the heir apparent to the kingdom left behind by Johnny Manziel. That never quite happened, though, and Murray transferred out of College Station rather quickly, moving to Oklahoma, where he sat behind fellow Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield and spent his springs playing baseball for the Sooners. He was so good at the latter, he ended up being selected ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB Draft.
The plan then was to play one more football season -- he was finally slated to start after sitting behind the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, Mayfield -- before leaving Norman and heading to Athletics spring training. Since then, he's at least provided added intrigue with his play on the gridiron, combining rare speed, athleticism and a good arm to complete 241 of 340 passes for 4,053 yards and 40 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also ran for 892 yards and 11 touchdowns.
His Sooners finished the regular season 12-1, losing to rival Texas in their first meeting but exacting revenge in the Big 12 Championship game to punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff, where Murray will meet fellow Heisman finalist Tagovailoa. It could be his last game as a quarterback, unless he can beat Tagovailoa twice in the same month -- first in votes, and then on the field.
