Deshaun Watson is ready to move on to the NFL after winning a national title with Clemson
Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson gets into the end zone on an eight-yard run during the College Football Playoff national championship game in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 9
Deshaun Watson is going out on top.
Minutes after connecting with Clemson teammate Hunter Renfrow for a two-yard touchdown pass with one second remaining to lift the Tigers to their first national championship since 1981, the star quarterback announced that he’s moving on to the NFL.
“It’s my time to go,” Watson told reporters after Clemson’s 35-31 comeback victory over Alabama in the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night.
What a way to go. Last year, Watson was third in Heisman Trophy voting and he and the Tigers came out on the losing end against Alabama in the national title game; last month, the junior finished second in the Heisman voting, and for a while on Monday night it looked like his team was going to have to settle for being runner-up again.
Clemson trailed Alabama by 14 in the second quarter and 10 early in the fourth. The Tigers claimed their first lead of the game, 28-24, with 4:38 left in the fourth, but the Crimson Tide went back ahead, 31-28, on a 30-yard run by Jalen Hurts with 2:07 remaining in regulation.
But Watson was determined to stop Alabama in its quest for back-to-back titles. “Let’s be legendary,” he recalled telling his teammates on the final drive of the game. “Let’s be great.”
This was his Heisman tonight.
— Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney on DeShaun Watson
Watson was the game’s offensive MVP, completing 36 of 56 passes for 420 yards and three touchdowns and running for another score.
“This was his Heisman tonight, and this was really what he wanted,” Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney said after the game. “This is what he came to Clemson to do.”
And now it’s time for Watson to move on to the NFL draft.
“Whoever picks me up is gonna get a champion, not just on the field, but off the field, and just a champion at heart who’ll make people around him better,” Watson told ESPN. “I’m just gonna go to work, and regardless of my situation or where I go, I’m gonna play my role and do the best I can do.”
Read more here: https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/acc/clemson-university/article125566629.html#storylink=cpy
Twitter: @chewkiii
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