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BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced Campbell's Adam Lutz as one of the 167 semifinalists nationally for the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy®, presented by Fidelity Investments® and hosted at the New York Athletic Club.
Lutz joined Dayton's Will Bardo and Troy McClelland from San Diego as PFL student-athletes on the list. Lutz is the third Camel to be nominated for the honor, joining former Campbell teammates Sam Eberwein (2012) and Kurt Odom (2013) as semifinalists for the prestigious award.
This season, Lutz has averaged 39.1 yards per punt with a long of 54, notching three kicks inside the 20. The senior has also forced eight fair catches through four games.
Lutz was also named to the 2014 Third Team Preseason All-American by USA College Football and to the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) FCS Punter watch list prior to the 2014 season.
A Second Team All-PFL member in 2012, Lutz was an honorable mention recipient in 2013. Lutz posted a 41.7 yard per punt average in 2013, ranking second in the PFL. The junior pinned 10 punts inside the 20 and seven for more than 50 yards. Lutz also forced 18 fair catches and booted a long of 68 yards.
The Waxhaw, N.C. native was an Academic All-PFL First Team recipient last season in addition to earning PFL Academic Honor Roll and third team All-PFL from College Sports Madness. Lutz also collected CFPA honorable mention weekly plaudits three times.
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.
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 $10.7 million.
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.
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, and it has recognized 787 outstanding individuals since its inception. The Campbell Trophy, first awarded in 1990, adds to the program's prestige, having previously honored two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and five first-round NFL draft picks. Earlier this month, Fidelity Investments became the first presenting sponsor of the Campbell Trophy.
In 2011, the NFF and Fidelity launched 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 55-year history of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program. Fidelity also helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes initiative, which recognizes the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives at each of the institutions with an NFF National Scholar-Athlete. As part of the initiative, the NFF will present each of the faculty representatives with a plaque and a $5,000 check from Fidelity Investments to support the academic support services for student-athletes at each school.
