Several of the brightest stars in college football will showcase their skills for the entire country in the College Football Playoff on Dec. 28, and many of them were in Atlanta a week ago as finalists for honors at the College Football Awards show.
LSU quarterback Joe Burrow was up for a couple of awards, while teammates _ receiver Ja'Marr Chase and defensive back Grant Delpit _ were up for awards as well. Ohio State had four players in attendance in quarterback Justin Fields, defensive end Chase Young, running back J.K. Dobbins and defensive back Jeff Okudah. And Oklahoma had a pair of representatives in quarterback Jalen Hurts and receiver CeeDee Lamb.
And then there was Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
The redshirt junior was the only Tiger who was a finalist for an award and was the only Clemson player in attendance. He spent some time hanging out with Buckeyes players, Clemson's opponent for the Fiesta Bowl, during his time in Atlanta.
"I'm definitely outnumbered. It's me versus four of them," Simmons told The State.
The Kansas native enjoyed his time at the awards show, even though he did not win the Chuck Bednarik Award, which goes to the best defensive player in college football. Young won that honor over Simmons and Auburn's Derrick Brown.
"It's been really fun, a really good experience just hanging out with all the guys around the country," Simmons said. "We've all just been having a good time."
Still, Simmons would have been honored to win the trophy, and he would have liked a trip to New York for the Heisman as well. Burrow, the Heisman winner, was joined by Hurts, Young and Fields as Heisman finalists this year _ meaning the Tigers were the only College Football Playoff team to not have a Heisman finalist.
While Simmons was disappointed Clemson did not have a Heisman finalist, the Tigers are more focused on bigger goals. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence (7th) and running back Travis Etienne (9th) both finished in the top 10 of Heisman voting but were not invited to New York.
"It would be cool, but at the end of the day it's not really that big of a deal," Simmons said. "We're more worried about holding up that big gold trophy at the end of the year."
