NEW YORK - On Saturday afternoon, Sam Bradford took a nap. He was glad he actually had time for that.
A few hours later, he was staring at portraits of the four former Heisman winners from Oklahoma.
That night, he was holding a Heisman Trophy. It qualified as a very nice day.
"It's kind of a surreal experience," Bradford said. "It won't fully sink in tonight. It's probably going to take at least until tomorrow to realize what exactly happened tonight."
What happened? He became just the second sophomore ever to win the Heisman trophy after Tim Tebow became the first last season. Bradford didn't have the most first-place votes - Tebow had nine more - but he still won by 122 points.
With the chance for such a slim margin, he was feeling quite nervous.
"I'd much rather play in front of 100,000 people than have to wait for an award," Bradford said.
If that's the case, then the Gators will have their hands full on Jan. 8 when they meet for the national championship.
Until that happens, though, the two quarterbacks were glad they got to know each other outside of the football field.
"That was one of the best parts of the trip," Bradford said about getting to know Tebow.
There's been a respect for their play on the field, too.
"I'm happy for Sam, and I would've been happy for Colt," Tebow said.
A lot of people could've been happy for several quarterbacks in the Big 12 Conference. Missouri's Chase Daniel and Graham Harrell have also been in the Heisman talk throughout the season. Daniel was a finalist last year.
"It shows how strong the Big 12 is," McCoy said. "There's Graham at Texas Tech. You look at Chase in Missouri. I'm going to leave out a couple guys."
Now, when Bradford walks by the Heisman halls years later, he'll get to stare at his own mug shot.
As far as he feels about that, it's pure guesswork right now.
"I'll let you know when it happens," Bradford said.
That's not the only thing the newest Heisman winner is a little confused about. The fact that he'll be talked about in the same class as his childhood idols is plain crazy talk to Bradford.
"It's hard to put myself on the same page as Jason White," Bradford said. "It's still a little hard for me to understand."
Even though he has been talked about as a Heisman candidate from the preseason through his 53-touchdown season, he didn't even realize it until, well, the invite to New York officially came.
"Maybe after last week," Bradford said of when he realized he was a serious contender. "I just concentrated on wining football games."
Since he is only a sophomore, are more Heismans in his future?
"I think so," Bradford said. "We'll see."
