Stanford Cardinals running back Christian McCaffrey may have missed out on the hardware, but he was handed another important award on Tuesday. McCaffrey, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, which went to Alabama Crimson Tide running back Derrick Henry, was named The Associated Press' college football player of the year. McCaffrey becomes the first play to win the AP's player of the year award without first taking home the Heisman since 2009, when another Alabama running back, Mark Ingram, edged out Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh as that year's Heisman winner.
"This award is a testament to all the efforts and support of my teammates, coaches, staff and the entire Stanford football program," McCaffrey said in a statement to the AP.
McCaffrey becomes the first Stanford player to win the AP's player of the year since the award was first handed out in 1998 and is the first running back to head home from an outstanding collegiate season with it since USC's Reggie Bush.
McCaffrey, as versatile a player as there was in all of college football this year - he also won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation's most versatile player - running, catching and returning his way to 3,496 all-purpose-yards.
McCaffrey, the son of former NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, ran for 1,847 yards and eight touchdowns, caught 41 passes for 540 yards and four touchdowns, and averaged 28.9 yards on kickoff returns. His rushing yardage total was second in the nation behind Henry and his 41 receptions were the top mark for the entire Cardinals team.
His total yards for the season were enough to break the mark set by Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders in 1988. Sanders' son, Barry Sanders Jr., is a teammate and close friend of McCaffrey.
And while McCaffrey expressed appreciation for all the accolades in wake of his record-breaking season, he sounds very much like a guy that's already thinkingg about next year.
"I'm not satisfied at all with the season, my personal season," he said. "All the great players you ask always expect greatness. There's definitely a lot of work to be done. A lot of room for improvement."