Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh fell short in his bid to make Heisman history earlier this month, but, today, he made a little Associated Press history to make up for the stiff-armed “snub”.
According to the wire service, Suh has been named as their national player of the year. He’s the first defensive player to take home the honor since the award’s inception in 1998.
Suh’s head coach gave the voters a lot of credit for going against the offensive grain and naming the best football player in the country in 2009.
“It’s a great choice,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. " I give (the voters) a lot of credit. I’m not taking anything away from Ingram or McCoy or any of the other guys. I just think at his position, you would be hard-pressed to say there’s a better player than Suh. He’s had a tremendous year.”
Suh received 26 of 59 first-place votes to finish just ahead of Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. Heisman winner Mark Ingram finished tied for third with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy.
It was only the second time the award did not go to the reigning Heisman winner; back in 2002, Iowa quarterback Brad Banks won the AP award after Carson Palmer had taken home the Heisman.
