DALLAS, Texas (Blugolds.com) - Selected as the best and brightest from the college gridiron, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced 127 semifinalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation, and the candidates for the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments.
Among the semifinalists is UW-Eau Claire wide receiver David Goodman (Sr.-Neenah, Wis.). An accounting and finance major with a 3.37 grade point average, Goodman has been a team captain for the last two seasons. He has started in 28 games in his career and was a 2009 second team All-WIAC pick along with receiving honorable mention All-WIAC honors in 2010. Goodman leads the team this season with 219 yards receiving on 12 catches. He currently ranks eighth on the Blugolds' all-time career receiving yards list (1,920), seventh in pass receptions (123) and sixth in pass reception touchdowns (16).
In NCAA Division III, just 30 players were named as semifinalists. Around the WIAC there were just two other players selected, UW-Oshkosh's Justin Budiac and UW-Whitewater's Jared Kiesow.
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.
Named in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient's grant by $7,000 for a total post-graduate scholarship of $25,000. A total distribution of $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, pushing the program's all-time distributions to more than $9.8 million. Launched in 1959, the NFF scholar-athlete program became the first initiative in history to award post-graduate scholarships based on both a player's academic and athletic accomplishments. The Campbell Trophy, first awarded in 1990, adds to the program's mystique, having previously honored two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and five first-round NFL draft picks.
In August, the NFF and Fidelity announced a multi-year initiative between the two organizations to celebrate the scholar-athlete ideal and a joint commitment to higher education. As part of the initiative, Fidelity became the first presenting sponsor ever in the 53-year history of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program. To promote the achievements of the recipients, Fidelity has been working with ESPN to produce a series of short television segments about the 2011 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. The segments will also include a special feature about the recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy winner. All of the segments are airing on ESPN's College Football Live on Thursdays from September through early December.
2011 NFF NATIONAL SCHOLAR-ATHLETE CANDIDATE NOTES
- 3.60 Average GPA
- 27 Nominees with a 3.9 GPA or better
- 6 Nominees with a perfect 4.0 GPA
- 86 Team Captains
- 56 All-Conference Picks
- 17 Academic All-America Selections
- 10 All-America Selections
- 27 Players (among all divisions) represented in this week's national top 25 polls
- 1 Player Formerly Named an NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete
- 47 Nominees from the Football Bowl Subdivision
- 33 Nominees from the Football Championship Subdivision
- 11 Nominees from the Division II
- 30 Nominees from the Division III
- 6 Nominees from the NAIA
- 61 Offensive Players
- 50 Defensive Players
- 16 Special Teams Players
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