Cam Newton not recognizing Tua Tagovailoa for Heisman Trophy

The 2018 Heisman Trophy race appears to be unofficially down to two candidates, but Cam Newton has apparently never heard of one of them.

Newton, who has a Heisman vote every year as a former recipient of the award, was asked on Wednesday who his pick is to win the coveted trophy. He said he can’t answer the question “for obvious reasons,” and he had an interesting response when a reporter brought up Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Cam, when asked who his Heisman pick is: "Next question, for obvious reasons."

Reporter: "Not Tua?"

Cam: "Who is that?"

— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) December 5, 2018

It should be noted that Heisman rules prohibit voters from publicly revealing their vote, so that is probably why Newton refused to answer the initial question. However, the part about having never heard of Tagovailoa likely has to do with the Auburn-Alabama rivalry. Newton, of course, was a star at Auburn.

If Newton doesn’t want to vote for Tagovailoa out of spite, he has a good opportunity to justify it. Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray is now the Las Vegas favorite to win the award after his performance against Texas in the Big 12 championship game and what happened with Alabama’s comeback against Georgia.