NEW YORK — As she sat on the bus in New York City on Friday morning, Deann Watson could not believe it.

“We are in New York,” she yelled to her sister, Sonia.

Though it will be another day before she will find out if her son, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, will win the 2015 Heisman Trophy, Deann is already proud of him. He has already done something few only dream about.

After committing to Clemson following his sophomore year at Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Ga., Watson wrote down four goals he wanted to accomplish before he left Clemson – win an ACC Championship, win a Heisman Trophy, win a national championship and graduate in college in three years.

Watson is on schedule to graduate from Clemson with a degree in sports communications next winter. Last weekend, he led the Tigers to the 2015 ACC Championship with a win over No. 10 North Carolina. On Friday, he got the opportunity to touch the Heisman Trophy he possibly could be holding on Saturday night when the 2015 Heisman Trophy will be presented to either him, Alabama running back Derrick Henry or Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey.

What was once just a set of goals, they now are ever so close to being a reality. In case you didn’t know, Watson is the quarterback for the No. 1-ranked team in the country, and he and the Tigers will take on No. 4 Oklahoma in the National Semifinals on New Year’s Eve in the Orange Bowl.

On Thursday, Watson was named the nation’s top quarterback and presented the Davey O’Brien Award during ESPN’s Home Depot College Football Awards Show in Atlanta.

“It has been crazy, especially this week with all the things that are going on, traveling and having this opportunity,” Watson said on Friday at the Marriott Marquis New York. “The one thing I can do is control what I can control. The ACC Championship, I could control that, and I have that. But for the Heisman, I really cannot control that. That is for the voters and then the people that choose the winner.

“Right now, I’m just sitting back and really enjoying the ride.”

Deann and Sonia are enjoying, it too.

“This is great. I will tell you, this is unreal,” Sonia said. “I’m very proud of him. I really am. He has really completed his journey and he has already won (the Heisman) to me.”

Watson’s journey to New York has not been an easy one. First, as it has been well documented, he fought through the pain of watching his mother suffer through tongue cancer to only come out stronger on the other side.

Then, in his first year at Clemson, he went through a turbulent freshman year as far injuries go. First he injured his shoulder in the spring. Then he broke his index finger in his throwing hand, and then he suffered an ACL tear in his left knee.

When he heads off to the Heisman Trophy ceremony on Saturday night, it will mark one-year since he had surgery to repair his damaged knee.

“It has been a tough ride,” he said. “They were long, long mornings. They were long, long nights. Really, I just tried to grind every day and stay true to the process and control what I could control. That’s the grind that I put in with all my work and time. I did not listen to all the media stuff outside because they did not know what was really going on.

“They have their own opinions, but only myself, my teammates and the trainers knew what was going on. I knew I was going to come back, but I wanted to come back even harder. Being in this room and having this opportunity is pretty special.”

It’s pretty special to Deann, too. When talking about her son, all she could do was smile from ear-to-ear.

“I never thought it would be this soon,” Deann said. “I did not think we would be sitting here in New York.”

“That’s what we are supposed to do … claim it and name it,” Sonia added.

Watson claimed the Heisman Trophy would be his several years ago. On Saturday, he will find out if his name is on it.

Either way, mama is still very proud.