IRVING, TEXAS --- Moravian College senior wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio has been named one of 156 semifinalists across college football for the 2016 William V. Campbell Trophy.
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame announced the 156 semifinalists for the 2016 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments®. The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation and is prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club.
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Nov. 1, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 59th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. At the event, one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 27th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
"These 156 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "It is important for us to showcase their success on the football field, in the classroom and in the community. This year's semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders."
Named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, former chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the Campbell Trophy is a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient's grant by $7,000 for a total postgraduate scholarship of $25,000. This year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $11.1 million.
"The NFF would like to personally congratulate each of the nominees as well as their schools and coaches on their tremendous accomplishments," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist's achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates."
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.
The past recipients of the William V. Campbell Trophy include: Air Force's Chris Howard (1990); Florida's Brad Culpepper(1991); Colorado's Jim Hansen (1992); Virginia's Thomas Burns (1993); Nebraska's Rob Zatechka (1994); Ohio State's Bobby Hoying (1995); Florida's Danny Wuerffel (1996); Tennessee's Peyton Manning (1997); Georgia's Matt Stinchcomb (1998); Marshall's Chad Pennington (1999); Nebraska's Kyle Vanden Bosch (2000); Miami (Fla.)'s Joaquin Gonzalez (2001); Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.)'s Brandon Roberts (2002); Ohio State's Craig Krenzel (2003); Tennessee's Michael Munoz (2004); LSU's Rudy Niswanger (2005); Rutgers' Brian Leonard (2006); Texas' Dallas Griffin (2007); California's Alex Mack (2008); Florida's Tim Tebow (2009); Texas' Sam Acho (2010); Army West Point's Andrew Rodriguez (2011); Alabama'sBarrett Jones (2012); Penn State's John Urschel (2013); Duke's David Helton (2014); and Oklahoma's Ty Darlington (2015).
"This is an outstanding honor for Jalen to be included in the list of semifinalists," stated Moravian College Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "Jalen has been a leader on the field for our program since he transferred here in 2013, but he is also a leader off the field with his work ethic in the classroom. He leads by example for all of our younger players and will be a success in all his future endeavors beyond his time here at Moravian."
Snyder-Scipio is majoring in nursing at Moravian, and he has a 3.64 GPA as he prepares for a career in nursing. Snyder-Scipio was named to the Centennial Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll in both 2014 and 2015, and he was also selected to the Centennial All-Conference Second Team in 2015 as well as the Centennial All-Academic Team in 2015 for earning All-Conference and Academic Honor Roll accolades. Snyder-Scipio is serving as a team captain for the Greyhounds this fall for a second straight season. He has set the school record for receptions, now with 148 in 34 career games, and Snyder-Scipio is third in school history with 15 career touchdown catches and fifth in career receiving yards with 1,670.
The 156 semifinalists include 33 NCAA Division III student-athletes, and Snyder-Scipio is one of four Centennial Conference players on the list.
To view the full NFF release and list of 156 semifinalists, visit http://footballmatters.org/the-nff-announces-list-of-william-v-campbell-trophy-semi-finalists/.
Parts of release courtest of NFF