CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois center Joe Spencer was named a semifinalist for the prestigious Campbell Trophy, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced Wednesday. The award recognizes the best football scholar-athlete in the nation.
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 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. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 59th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6, where their accomplishments will be highlighted. 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.
» Starting center
» 28 career starts entering the Nebraska game
» Working on his MBA after graduated with a degree in finance in May 2016
» The Illini's all-time leader in rushing yards by a lineman after 14 yards rushing on a fumble recovery against North Carolina (records dating back to 1950)
» Rimington Trohpy watch list (nation's best center)
» Wuerffel Trophy watch list (community service award)
» National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Awards nominee
» AFCA Good Works Team nominee
» Led the Illini's "Lift For Life," which raised over $21,000 for charity in 2016
» Serves as president of the Illinois Uplifting Athletes chapter, which raises money for rare disease research and treatment
» Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president
» Illini Leadership Academy
» Freshman Athlete Mentor program
» Organized student-athlete variety show that has raised more than $80,000 for charity in the last five years
» "Big" at the local Big Brothers Big Sisters
» Spearheaded the Leadership Summit for local middle school students
» Leads the Illini's Thanksgiving Basket Program
» Has visited nearly every elementary school in Champaign-Urbana
» Visits to pediatric unit of local hospitals
» Volunteer at the Special Olympics
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's Barrett Jones (2012); Penn State's John Urschel (2013); Duke's David Helton (2014); and Oklahoma's Ty Darlington (2015)
