There's No "I" in Blog: Starter: Mark Ingram

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Starter: Mark Ingram

Who is he? Mark Ingram is the sophomore running back for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He racked up 1,864 total yards and 18 touchdowns this season. Oh yeah, he also won the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first Alabama player to win it.

Why do we like him? While I have in the past voiced my displeasure about the shameless promotion of SEC football, I'll admit I like Ingram a lot. He's an electrifying player who helped carry the Crimson Tide to the BCS Championship Game. (That said, I still think the wrong person won the Heisman. Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh and Stanford's Toby Gerhart made stronger cases. The Heisman is supposed to be awarded to the best college football player, and Gerhart not only had better numbers--1,885 yards and 26 TDs--but also won the Doak Walker Award for the best running back. Ingram wasn't even voted the best running back, but he was voted the best player? I needed to get that off my chest.) The real reason I like Ingram is because of his Heisman speech, where he lets loose some man tears and even thanks the University of Alabama teachers. (It's not as good as Ricky Williams's speech, but it's close.) It's the man tears that did it. He could barely breathe! Fans love to see this kind of raw emotion from athletes. It brings them off the pedestal and humanizes them.

This brings me to another tangent. We're so used to seeing players as nearly superhuman because of their ability to do things us normal folk can only dream of that when we are reminded that these athletes are real people, we either end up loving or hating them. Love him or hate him, any football fan remembers the incredulous look on Tom Brady's face after winning Super Bowl XXXVI, just like fans love or hate Peyton Manning for his weird humor.

Recently, Steve McNair's death and its aftermath were a grim reminder of just how human these athletes can be. Even more recently, this whole Tiger Woods fiasco proved once again that athletes get unfairly lionized by fans. (Yep, that's all I'll say about Tiger, because I don't care whom he's slept with.) It's a strange relationship fans have with athletes, and Ingram's speech reminded me of this: I like Ingram for his man tears as much as I dislike Brett Favre for his man tears. Ok, enough waxing philosophical, here's Ingram's Heisman acceptance speech.

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Rachel Partin

Rachel is a writer living in Somerville, Massachusetts. She spent her childhood shooting hoops with her beloved hot pink basketball and getting bowled over as she posted up against her towering brothers. Eventually learning that she was better suited to track and field, she pursued a high school career as a pole vaulter, only to inevitably end up sunbathing on the pit rather than practicing. In college she tutored athletes in writing and English, discovering, to her delight, that most college athletes truly care about academics. She edits a sports blog in her spare time.

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