Peppers caught off guard by being a finalist
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Jabrill Peppers pressed a phone against his right cheek, head bowed, and swayed from side to side.
He picked his head up when he heard unexpected news.
“Wow. Hey,” he said, tilting his head back with a huge smile upon finding out he was a Heisman Trophy finalist. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
The do-it-all, three-way dynamo had quite a year for No. 6 Michigan, and the team says he played 15 positions across offense, defense and special teams.
But the nation’s most versatile star wasn’t necessarily projected to be among the final five players up for the Heisman.
“I was in shock when I got that call,” Peppers said. “I’m still in shock. It’s surreal. When you’re a child, you set goals and you work hard for things like this.”
The East Orange, N.J., native had to work harder than most. He was 7 when his father, Terry Peppers, went to jail and was 14 when his older brother and role model, Don Curtis, was shot and killed.
Ivory Bryant , his mother, made sure sports ranked second behind school.
His mother will join him at the Heisman Trophy ceremony tonight in New York. He wasn’t planning on inviting his father.
“With my dad, our relationship is still growing,” Peppers said. “He’s trying to get back on his feet.”
The other finalists include quarterback Baker Mayfield and receiver Dede Westbrook, who were practically unstoppable for Oklahoma, and quarterbacks Deshaun Watson of Clemson and Lamar Jackson of Louisville.
Peppers won the Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile college football player. On defense, the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder usually lined up as a linebacker after spending most of the previous two years as a defensive back.
Michigan’s Charles Woodson is the only player to win the Heisman while primarily playing defense — though, like Peppers, Woodson also played on offense and special teams.