As Robert Griffin III sat in the front row at the Downtown Athletic Club eight years ago, he could sense the room going silent and his heart pounding through his chest when the master of ceremonies announced: “And the winner of the 2011 Heisman Trophy is …”

There is so much from that night that Griffin remembers: the camaraderie with the four other finalists, the celebrations his winning the award set off at Baylor University, the humility of joining a select fraternity of top college football players.

But there is one detail he did not recall about that whirlwind weekend in Manhattan: signing an agreement that would prohibit him from selling the trophy.

“Most kids in that moment — because we’re young adults — we’re not even thinking about that,” Griffin said on Wednesday in a phone interview. “We’re not thinking about selling the Heisman for money or when we’re 50, 60 or 70 years old trying to cash in on it and pass it down to our kids.”