The Burlsworth Trophy is an award given annually to the most outstanding FBS college football player who began his career as a walk-on."1st Burlsworth trophy goes to Ga. Tech walk-on", Associated Press in The Seattle Times, March 15, 2011. It was first awarded for the 2010 season and is a program of the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation. Burlsworth walked on to the Arkansas Razorbacks football program in 1994 and became an All-American. He was killed in a car accident 11 days after being selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft."Arkansas to honor Brandon Burlsworth", Associated Press at ESPN.com, August 19, 2010.
On October 28, 2019, the Burlsworth Trophy became a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). It joins the Broyles Award as the only members of the NCFAA originating in Arkansas. The trophy was sculpted and produced by Raymond Gibby of Nobility Bronze in Pea Ridge, Arkansas.
Winners and finalists Year Winner Pos. School Other finalists Ref.2010 Sean Bedford C Georgia Tech Army LB Josh McNary;Tennessee LB Nick Reveiz;Oklahoma State FB Bryant Ward;Boise State DE Ryan Winterswyk 2011 Austin Davis QB Southern Miss Houston WR Patrick Edwards;Stanford WR Griff Whalen "Southern Miss QB wins Burlsworth Award", Associated Press in Knoxville News Sentinel, December 9. 2011.2012 Matt McGloin QB Penn State Michigan S Jordan Kovacs;San José State OT David Quessenberry "Penn State QB McGloin wins Burlsworth Award", Associated Press at Yahoo! Sports, December 3, 2012.2013 Jared Abbrederis WR Wisconsin Missouri G Max Copeland;Tulsa RB Trey Watts 2014 Justin Hardy WR East Carolina Mississippi State G Ben Beckwith;Iowa FB Mark Weisman 2015 Baker Mayfield QB Oklahoma Washington State QB Luke Falk;Penn State DE Carl Nassib 2016 Baker Mayfield (2) QB Oklahoma Northwestern WR Austin Carr;Washington State QB Luke Falk 2017 Luke Falk QB Washington State Wisconsin TE Troy Fumagalli;Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield;Memphis WR Anthony Miller 2018 Hunter Renfrow WR Clemson California RB Patrick Laird;Wyoming S Marcus Epps 2019 Kenny Willekes DE Michigan State Georgia K Rodrigo Blankenship;California S/RS Ashtyn Davis 2020 Jimmy Morrissey C Pittsburgh BYU WR Dax Milne;Arkansas LB Grant Morgan 2021 Grant Morgan LB Arkansas Georgia QB Stetson Bennett;Troy LB Carlton Martial 2022 Stetson Bennett QB Georgia Purdue QB Aidan O'Connell;Troy LB Carlton Martial 2023 Cody Schrader RB Missouri James Madison DT James Carpenter;Oklahoma WR Drake Stoops 2024 Bryce Boettcher LB Oregon Buffalo LB Shaun Dolac;Indiana DT James Carpenter 2025 Drew Mestemaker QB North Texas Oklahoma G Febechi Nwaiwu;Texas S Michael Taaffe
References
External links Burlsworth Trophy.com Nobility Bronze (Sculptor of the Burlsworth Trophy)