The honors are pouring in for Ole Miss linebacker Deterrian Shackelford.
On Thursday, Shackelford was one of 167 players named semifinalists for the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments, the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced.
The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation, and up to 16 of the candidates will be named recipients of a prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award, also presented by Fidelity Investments. Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete program awards $18,000 scholarships that can be used for the honorees’ postgraduate educations. This year’s recipients will be announced Oct. 30, and one will be declared the winner of the Campbell Trophy Dec. 9 at the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner.
Shackelford, the Rebels’ starting Mike linebacker in his sixth year of eligibility, has shined both on and off the field throughout his Ole Miss career. Academically, he graduated in three years with a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in English and completed a master’s degree in higher education this past summer. He is a five-time selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was a semifinalist for this same NFF honor last year.
The Decatur, Alabama, native is a leader on the field and in the community. He ranks second on the team with 15 tackles and has started all three games at Mike linebacker this season. He has volunteered in a number of local efforts in Oxford, as well as led mission trips internationally (Panama in 2013, Haiti in 2014). His honors this year are starting to pile up:
- 2014 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award Semifinalist
- 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team
- 2014 SEC Community Service Team
- 2014 Senior CLASS Award Candidate
- 2014 Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list
Named in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University, 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 $10.7 million.
“These 167 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “It is important for us to showcase their success on the football field, in the classroom and in the community. This year’s semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders.”
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.
The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients, and the results will be announced via a national press release on Thursday, Oct. 30. Each recipient will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will vie as finalists for the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments and hosted at the NYAC, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014. Each member of the 2014 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City to be honored Dec. 9 during the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the Campbell Trophy.
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’s Andrew Rodriguez (2011); Alabama’s Barrett Jones (2012); and Penn State’s John Urschel (2013).
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Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Information
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