Tulsa World: Florida not fazed by Sam's hardware

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Florida not fazed by Sam's hardware
Bradford winning the Heisman no big motivation, they say.

By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Published: 1/8/2009 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 1/8/2009 2:41 AM

MIAMI, Fla. — Remember Torrance Marshall, rocking back and forth in a rage during the 2000 national championship coin toss, telling Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke the Heisman Trophy he had just won actually belonged to Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel?

"We want it back!" Marshall shouted.

"That wasn't his," Weinke replied.

"Yeah it was!" Marshall shot back.

Eight years later, during tonight's BCS championship coin flip, is there any chance the Gators pull out a similar motivational ploy when OU Heisman-winning quarterback Sam Bradford comes to midfield?

If the week leading up to the game is any indication, not really.

"It's not an insult," Florida safety Ahmad Black said when asked about Bradford beating Gators QB Tim Tebow for this year's Heisman. "The world knows they're both great guys, both great players. They just picked Bradford this year. Tebow got it last year."

That softened the blow. Tebow, unlike Heupel in 2000, already had one.

Besides, as Florida center Maurkice Pouncey pointed out, "Tebow won the Maxwell (Award, for the second straight year). He probably ain't stressing the Heisman."

If he was the night Bradford won it, Gator teammates took some of the load off.

"I texted him, 'Keep an eye on the prize,' " safety Major Wright said, the "prize" being the national championship. "He's still a great quarterback. We can't let that bring us down as a team."

The only one who seems chapped over the Heisman ceremony is, interestingly, a Sooner.

"With us being in Florida and playing against Florida, everybody's going to think Tebow should have won the Heisman. But the right person won the Heisman," OU cornerback Dominique Franks said this week. "And we're going to go out there and show everybody the reason why he won it."

Taking the reasonable route, OU safety Nic Harris said, "Sam has the hardware. It's in Norman. We have nothing to prove."

Maybe if Tebow himself sounded offended, there would be a Marshall-esque buildup to tonight's game. It hasn't happened yet.

"I have enough to be motivated about," Tebow said when asked if Bradford's Heisman victory stirred him any. "I think No. 1 is holding that crystal ball up."

Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer

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seymore1965, Tulsa (1/8/2009 7:50:12 AM)

You know when Tebow says, "I think No. 1 is holding that crystal ball up," he's thinking, "but a consecutive Heisman sure would be sweet."

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