NEW YORK >> Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sees his selection as a Heisman Trophy finalist as reaffirmation of the breadth of talents of football players from Hawaii.

The Saint Louis School graduate added, “I definitely think there is something in the water with our skill players.”

His remarks came during a press conference at the New York Stock Exchange today after which the three finalists, all quarterbacks — Tagovailoa, Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray and Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins — rang the closing bell on today’s trading session.

@HeismanTrophy finalists ring Friday's closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. @StarAdvertiser @StLouisHawaii @AlabamaFTBL #HawaiiFB pic.twitter.com/FCczNszVyk

— Ferd Lewis (@FerdLewis) December 7, 2018

The winner of the 84th Heisman Trophy, symbolizing the outstanding college football player, will be announced Saturday night

“For Hawaii kids, we’ve usually been known to be big people,” Tagovailoa said. For years, Tagovailoa said, that meant, “guys who belong on the line, (offensive) line or (defensive) line, more so the defensive players.”

Now, Tagovailoa said, the reputation of so-called skill players, most notably quarterbacks, is spreading.

Marcus Mariota won the 2014 Heisman as a quarterback at the University of Oregon and went on to become the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. This year McKenzie Milton from Mililani helped UCF to an American Athletic Conference title and an unbeaten record. Jordan Ta’amu from Pearl City quarterbacked Mississippi and Saint Louis’ Chevan Cordeiro helped Hawaii win two victories.

And, of course, Tagovailoa helped the Crimson Tide to the No. 1 ranking and a 13-0 record.

“A lot of people get the opportunity to see that we are more than people who are big and that we do have skill players as well. I think it is testament to that.”

If he does win the Heisman, Tagovailoa said, “it would be awesome and I’d get to carry the torch.”