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As Robert Griffin III sat in the front row at the Downtown Athletic Club eight years ago, he could sense the room going silent and his heart pounding through his chest when the master of ceremonies announced: “And the winner of the 2011 Heisman Trophy is …”
There is so much from that night that Griffin remembers: the camaraderie with the four other finalists, the celebrations his winning the award set off at Baylor University, the humility of joining a select fraternity of top college football players.
But there is one detail he did not recall about that whirlwind weekend in Manhattan: signing an agreement that would prohibit him from selling the trophy.