Max Duggan accepted the 2022 Davey O’Brien Quarterback Award Monday, as a legend of TCU present officially merged with a legend of TCU past.
“It means so much to honor Davey O’Brien’s legacy and what he meant to TCU and Fort Worth, our university and to his family,” Duggan ’22 said. “When you come to TCU, especially as a quarterback, you understand the legacy of Davey O’Brien.”
O’Brien ’39 led TCU to clinching a national championship for the 1938 season. He claimed the Heisman Trophy among many other accolades. The Davey O’Brien Award commenced in his honor in 1977 and has been awarded to some of football’s greatest – Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning – but, until now, never a Horned Frog.
Duggan’s heroic story is well chronicled, as is the amazing 2022 football season. The highlights, of course include being named runner up for the Heisman Trophy and leading the Horned Frogs in an undefeated regular season, to the first-ever College Football Playoff for a Texas team, to defeating Michigan for the Fiesta Bowl trophy and all the way to the CFP’s National Championship.
It was a story reminiscent of Davey O’Brien.
“When you come here, you want to be like him, you want to create a legacy that’s identical to him, and there’s nothing you could ever get back to what he did for Fort Worth and TCU, the man he was on the field, the man he was off the field – his grit, his toughness, his heart he played with, his high character,” Duggan said. “And some of that, I try to pride myself on every time I take the field, every time I’m off the field in this community, I want to be just like Davey O’Brien and what he was able to show for this community. So, it’s really special to be here, and I’m extremely honored to receive this award.”