The William V. Campbell Trophy, formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, is awarded by the National Football Foundation to the top college football player with the best combination of academics, leadership, and on-field performance. It is often considered to be the "Academic Heisman".
History The trophy is named for William V. Campbell, a businessman and former player and head coach at Columbia University. It was previously named in honor of Vincent dePaul Draddy, who served the National Football Foundation (NFF) and its College Football Hall of Fame for 33 years, including 19 years as the chairman of its board of directors. It has become the most prestigious and desirable "academic" award in college football. The trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership.
A scholar-athlete himself at Manhattan College, Draddy passionately believed in the premise that excellence on the football field could, and should, be consistent with academic distinction and the highest standards of civic leadership. He thought that young men who combined athletic performance with academic excellence should be recognized. After his death in July 1990, the NFF perpetuated his memory and beliefs by establishing a scholarship that would recognize the scholar-athlete who most fully embodies the ideals of the NFF.
While many major college football awards are theoretically open to players at all competitive levels, in practice, only players at NCAA Division I level win them. The Campbell Trophy is one of two such awards that has been won by a player at a lower level—Brandon Roberts of Washington University in St. Louis, an NCAA Division III school, in 2002. The other is the Ted Hendricks Award, which was won by Caleb Murphy of NCAA Division II Ferris State University in 2022.
In 2014, Fidelity Investments became the presenting sponsor of the Campbell Trophy, with its official name becoming the William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments. In 2013, the New York Athletic Club became the official home of the trophy, and it is now on display as part of its Hall of Fame. In 2019, Mazda began a three-year partnership as the presenting sponsor of the award. The $25,000 postgraduate scholarship that accompanies the trophy is endowed by HealthSouth Corporation.
Winners
List of annual recipients since inception in 1990. + List of William V. Campbell Trophy winners Year Player Position School 1990 Chris Howard RB Air Force 1991 Brad Culpepper DT Florida 1992 Jim Hansen OT Colorado 1993 Thomas D. Burns LB Virginia 1994 Rob Zatechka G Nebraska 1995 Bobby Hoying QB Ohio State 1996 Danny Wuerffel Florida (2) 1997 Peyton Manning Tennessee 1998 Matt Stinchcomb OT Georgia 1999 Chad Pennington QB Marshall 2000 Kyle Vanden Bosch DE Nebraska (2) 2001 Joaquin Gonzalez OT Miami (FL) 2002 Brandon Roberts LB Washington University 2003 Craig Krenzel QB Ohio State (2) 2004 Michael Muñoz OT Tennessee (2) 2005 Rudy Niswanger C LSU 2006 Brian Leonard FB Rutgers 2007 Dallas Griffin C Texas 2008 Alex Mack California 2009 Tim Tebow QB Florida (3) 2010 Sam Acho LB Texas (2) 2011 Andrew Rodriguez Army 2012 Barrett Jones G Alabama 2013 John Urschel Penn State 2014 David Helton LB Duke 2015 Ty Darlington C Oklahoma 2016 Zach Terrell QB Western Michigan 2017 Micah Kiser LB Virginia (2) 2018 Christian Wilkins DT Clemson 2019 Justin Herbert QB Oregon 2020 Brady White Memphis 2021 Charlie Kolar TE Iowa State 2022 Jack Campbell LB Iowa 2023 Bo Nix QB Oregon (2) 2024 Jalen Milroe Alabama (2) 2025 Eli Stowers TE Vanderbilt
References
External links The William V. Campbell Trophy, National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame website