Pat Sullivan on Mark Ingram

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Pat Sullivan is a lot like you and me, if we owned a Heisman Trophy and were standing with other former winners Saturday evening on the Nokia Theater stage in New York City.

He didn’t know who was going to win, either.

“We see it just like you see it,” Sullivan said Tuesday. “Some years, there’s not as much suspense. This year, there was some drama.”

If you watched the 2009 Heisman climax, you couldn’t help but notice the 1971 winner on that stage. Sullivan, once the Auburn quarterback, now the Samford coach, was all smiles.

That’s right.

The first Heisman winner from Auburn was happy for Mark Ingram, the first Heisman winner from Alabama.

“I was really impressed with Mark and the way he conducted himself,” Sullivan said. “It was truly a nice evening for him, for the university and for everyone in the state.”

Some things are bigger than the rivalry.

The Heisman fraternity is one of them.

Sullivan said the Auburn-Alabama divide “never even crossed my mind.”

“Going back to when I won it, the Alabama people have treated me with tremendous respect and friendship.”

See? We can all get along, when we want to.

Sullivan and his wife, Jean, try every year to attend either the Heisman announcement or the College Football Hall of Fame dinner, which also happens in New York, but about a week earlier.

He said they made their plans three months ago to be there for the Heisman this time, when no one suspected Ingram would be a finalist.

But, with Ingram in the running, Sullivan said, “I would’ve tried to make a special effort to go if we hadn’t planned it.”

Like you and I and most people with a heart, inside and outside this state, Sullivan was struck by Ingram’s honest emotions. The sophomore’s tears of joy and gratitude were just as powerful inside the room.

“The emotion he showed was genuine and made everyone there feel good,” Sullivan said. “I thought he handled everything in an honorable and class way.”

That’s saying something, coming from an honorable man and class act like Sullivan.

After the announcement, Ingram was rushed from one place to another, but Sullivan did get a moment to speak to him.

“I just congratulated him and told him,” Sullivan said, “since I’m in Birmingham, if I could ever help him, I would love to visit with him.”

Sullivan did get a chance to visit with Ingram’s mother and other family members who were there, and to renew acquaintances with his Heisman fraternity brothers.

Like Jim Plunkett. Archie Griffin. Steve Owens. George Rogers. Steve Spurrier and his wife, Jerri, have become friends with the Sullivans.

Sullivan also was glad to see 1993 winner Charlie Ward.

Did you know that Sullivan, as an Auburn assistant — along with current Troy AD Steve Dennis — helped recruit Ward out of Georgia?

“We talked about that the other night,” Sullivan said. “It was the year we took Stan White and Charlie signed with Florida State.

“All those guys. Without question, you get to know them.”

One thing we won’t get to know is how Sullivan voted.

The former Heisman winners get a ballot, and Sullivan routinely turns down requests to reveal his.

“Every year people ask,” Sullivan said. “I don’t put it out. Let me say this: I was very pleased and happy for the winner. I thought it was a well-deserved honor.

“That ought to tell you something.”

As if his smile Saturday night hadn’t said it all.

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