Duggan prepares for the future, but not yet thinking about a career in TCU

FORT WORTH, TX (AP) Max Duggan didn’t really have time to think about his career at TCU, where the four-year-old starting quarterback snapped the last snap in the national championship game. The Heisman Trophy runner-up didn’t even stop throwing as he prepared for the unification and the NFL Draft.

The beloved TCU quarterback, who trained in Southern California days after losing the national title game, returned to Fort Worth on Monday night for the Davey O’Brien Award, whose namesake is the school’s only Heisman trophy. winner when he led the Horned Frogs to an undefeated season and their only AP national title in 1938.

“This means so much to our TCU program because we obviously understand what Davey O’Brien has done for TCU, what he has only done for college football,” said Duggan, the first TCU player to win the annual award. the best players. defender. “We are so proud of what he has done for our program, created it and set a milestone for TCU programs to strive for.”

While Duggan and the Horned Frogs lost a lopsided national championship game to Georgia, they set a school record with 13 wins by defeating Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl college football playoff semifinals.

“I probably didn’t even spend enough time thinking about what happened this season,” he said. “Obviously we are disappointed with what happened in the National Championship game… But that doesn’t take away from the special season we had in the program so we can share it with the players, the coaching staff, our fans, the city of Fort Worth and TCU. . People will remember this season for a long time.”

Despite still having access to another season after starting 43 games for TCU, Duggan decided after lengthy conversations with his family and coach Sonny Dykes that the time was right to make himself available for the NFL Draft. In December he graduated from the business school of TCU.

Duggan participated in the Senior Bowl and is now among several draft picks working in California with former NFL quarterback Jordan Palmer. The NFL combo starts next week, ahead of TCU pro day at the end of March and the draft at the end of April.

Most draft picks suggest that Duggan will be selected at the end of the round on the third and final day. It doesn’t bother him.

“You just have to have one team that, you know, fall in love with you, that love your game, love you as a person, what you do on and off the field. And I think it’s really important to me. eyes, he said. “I understand that I’m not one of the best guys.”

Four former Big 12 quarterbacks have started NFL playoff games this season, including both Super Bowl starters MVP Patrick Mahomes of the champion Kansas City Chiefs and Heisman Trophy runner-up Jalen Hurts of the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. The rest were selected in the seventh round of last year’s draft.

Former Kansas State quarterback Skylar Thompson started the playoff game for Miami. Former Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy, the most recent draft pick, was San Francisco’s starter when the 49ers made it to the NFC title game.

“For the last couple of years I have been able to compete with Brock, Skylar and Jalen. To see how they succeed, you see what type of league the Big 12 is,” Duggan said. “I think you’ve seen them, whether they’re drafted near the end of the draft or not, they seem to have been successful, so it was fun to watch them.”