Last Friday, SB Nation awarded the first Piesman Trophy to Southeastern Louisiana's Ashton Henderson at a ceremony in New York City that included illustrious attendees from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, the Associated Press, Fox Sports 1, Pac-12 Networks, The Verge, and Eater.
Though the other two finalists, Jack Allen of Michigan State and Ufomba Kamalu of Miami, weren't able to attend due to postseason obligations, both of their athletic departments sent along video interviews we included in our presentation.
There are a lot of people we have to thank for helping us launch the Piesman this year, starting with our panel of voters. We gave them a bunch of eligible plays to review in a short amount of time, and they gave us three deserving finalists and a winner who embodies why we created this award.
Special thanks are also due to the athletic departments of Michigan State and Miami; though we would have loved to have Jack and Ufomba in attendance, we appreciated having interviews with both to share.
Last but not least, we want to thank City Bakery for making a lot of excellent food. I mean, look at this pie.
Most importantly, we want to thank all of you who tweeted and commented all season long about the Piesman. You helped us find great plays from all over college football we might have otherwise missed, and your enthusiasm encouraged us to make this award ceremony happen.
Oh, and we're already thinking of ways to make this bigger and better next year.