GLENDALE, Ariz. — The losing quarterback walked with a winner’s gait. Alabama ended the biggest night of Deshaun Watson’s football career with a 45–40 win in the College Football Playoff national championship game, but Watson was the best player on the field. He threw for 405 yards with four touchdowns, ran for 73 more, and walked away with the confidence of somebody who knows what he just did and knows he can do it again.
There were no tears. There was disappointment, sure, but no hint of frustration, no indication he had let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away, because Deshaun Watson does not believe that.