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What more is there to say about Magic Max Duggan and his otherworldly football season last fall?
Well, we’ll try.
Many, yes, including me, believed Duggan was the best player in college football in 2022. Finishing second in the Heisman Trophy voting was evidence. Had the voters waited until the weekend of championship conference games, he likely would have won.
Anyway, OK, Caleb Williams and his outrageous fingernails — more vulgar than even the guy who Guinness Book of World Records says has the longest (ick) — walked away with college football’s most coveted trophy.
Our guy, though, didn’t walk away empty-handed. Duggan was awarded the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the granddaddy of all awards presented to college quarterbacks. He was the first QB from TCU to win the O’Brien, named for the Horned Frogs’ Heisman winner in 1938.
Duggan was also named the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year.
The raw data alone merited the recognition: Duggan accounted for more than 3,700 total yards and 36 touchdowns, and only four interceptions in 368 passing attempts.
However, the statistics only tell a portion — a small portion — of the story of what made Duggan so special in 2022.
His is a testament to leadership, shear will, competitiveness, and loyalty. The latter is an at-times unheard-of concept in the era of the NIL and players using the transfer portal like an elevator, hopping on and off different floors.
Duggan could have quit and left TCU in the face of a bunch of adversity. That is the name of the game for many college athletes these days. And before this season, Duggan had had his share of unfulfilled hopes.
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Heart surgery before his sophomore season is documented. Underperforming football teams were, too. Just last season, the Frogs went 5-7 while he played with a broken foot so painful his doctors were in wonder that he was able to get around, much less run around. That same season, his head football coach was sent to the figurative guillotine at midseason.
This was not the hopes and dreams fulfilled when he left Council Bluffs, Iowa, for the Big 12 in Fort Worth.
To begin this season, he found himself No. 2 on the depth chart, the backup to Chandler Morris. This after three seasons as the starter. Even then, Duggan didn’t consider quitting. Many of his peers in the same position would have packed for the portal and announced their departure, subtly or not, on Instagram. Instead, Duggan vowed to do what was best for his team in his new role.
And, he said, he would do it well.
That mentality brought head coach Sonny Dykes to tears when discussing the situation after the SMU game. By that time, with Morris hurt in the season opener, Duggan had established himself as the starter after three games.
Duggan led — no, willed — the 13-2 Frogs to an undefeated regular season, including the Magic Max Miracle on the Brazos over, ahem, those guys, and on to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game with a victory we’ll never forget over overconfident and, as it turned out, overmatched Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl.
His most masterful stroke, though, was in a losing effort, leading the Frogs back in the Big 12 Championship Game.
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Down 28-20, Duggan singlehandedly drove his team 80 yards, accounting for 75 himself, a touchdown, and the 2-point conversion pass. If you account for penalties backing up the Frogs, Duggan accounted for 90 yards on the drive.
The effort — along with the picturesque finish, Duggan on his knees in exhaustion as he crossed the goal line — was nothing short of a heroic Hollywood ending. (The game came down to the longest half-yard, as we remember all too well.)
Duggan left after his senior season a new Horned Frog football legend. His destination was a professional football career. Duggan was drafted in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Chargers, one of three Horned Frogs taken by the team in the NFL draft. Wide receiver Quentin Johnston was the 21st player taken overall, and Derius Davis went in the fourth round.
What his future prospects are, we cannot say, but there’s one thing for certain: Duggan will show up and work his ass off every day.
