Montana's Crittenden Named Campbell Trophy Finalist
Crittenden also a Rhodes Scholar finalist
Eric Taber, University of Montana
MISSOULA, MONT. (October 29, 2015)- Montana Grizzly-Student Athlete and football team captain Derek Crittenden has been announced by The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame as one of 12 finalists for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy.
Known as the “Academic Heisman” award, The Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.
As a finalist, Crittenden, a defensive end with a 4.0 GPA in chemistry, will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2015 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class.
He will travel to New York City for the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8, where one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 26th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
“It’s an enormous honor to be among the highest achieving players across the nation and I’m excited to meet them all in New York,” said Crittenden.
“Being named a finalist for the Campbell Trophy is a reflection of my individual effort, but more importantly it’s a representation of the awesome support that I’ve had from coaches and professors over the past few years. My goal is to help teammates and kids across Montana realize that just because you play football, doesn’t mean you can’t excel in the classroom.”
Crittenden maintains the highest GPA of the 12 finalists, and is the only Rhodes Scholarship candidate in the group.
Selected from a nationwide pool of 135 exceptional semifinalists from among all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, the 12 class members are:
“All of us at Grizzly Athletics are very proud of Derek and his accomplishments,” said Kent Haslam, Montana Director of Athletics. “He epitomizes what it means to be a great student-athlete, a great leader, and a great human being. We hope his commitment to excellence and worth ethic inspires future generations of Grizzlies.”
Crittenden becomes Montana’s fourth National Scholar-Athlete, following in the footsteps of Dave Dickenson (1995), Joshua Branen, (1997), and Vince Huntsberger (2001).
Crittenden also finds himself among some of the most elite student-athletes in the history of the game, including former NFL standout Derrick Brooks (Florida State); actor Mark Harmon (UCLA); Robert Morris University President Chris Howard (Air Force); NCAA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Oliver Luck (West Virginia); NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins (Illinois) and Leland Melvin (Richmond); chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament, Billy Payne (Georgia); famed NFL quarterback Steve Young (BYU); and 32 College Football Hall of Famer, including 2015 electees Trev Alberts (Nebraska), Thom Gatewood (Notre Dame) and Dick Jauron (Yale).
The recipient of the Campbell Trophy will also be honored at the NFF Board of Directors meeting and at a reception hosted by the New York Athletic Club on Wednesday, Dec. 9. He will then fly to Atlanta to be recognized during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN at the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 10. As part of the NFF’s partnership with the College Football Playoff (CFP), the Campbell Trophy winner will be recognized on the field during the CFP National Championship on Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz.
“The NFF Awards Committee did an excellent job in selecting this year’s National Scholar-Athletes,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (the 1997 Campbell winner) and Eli were NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively.
“Selected from an impressive group of semifinalists, they should be extremely proud of their accomplishments, as they have undoubtedly distinguished themselves as some of the best student-athletes in the country. Each of these men is also a leader in his respective community, and we know that they have only begun to reach their potential.”
For Crittenden to be eligible for consideration, each applicant must have been in his 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.