Alabama’s starting quarterback just joined the likes of Tim Tebow, Bo Nix, and Justin Herbert. Jalen Milroe won the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy at last night’s National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner. The award recognizes the best college football player in athletics, academics, and leadership. The honor includes a twenty-five-pound bronze statue and a twenty five thousand dollar post graduate scholarship.
The Crimson Tide was bumped from this year’s first ever twelve team playoff for the national championship. The Southern Methodist Mustangs won the final slot after losing to Clemson by a last second field goal in the ACC Championship. Both of those teams got playoff slots, and Alabama didn’t. Instead, the Tide will play Michigan in the non-playoff ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa. The game will be played at Raymond James Stadium, where Alabama lost the 2017 CFP championship to Clemson.
The Campbell Trophy may ease some of the sting of Alabama’s post season future.
The NFF noted in a release how Milroe helped Alabama earn two College Football Playoff appearances, including a berth in the 2021 national title game and a 2023 semifinal. The Tide secured two SEC titles with Milroe on the roster and have played in three consecutive New Year's Six games, including a win in the 2021 Cotton Bowl, the 2022 Sugar Bowl and appearing in the 2024 Rose Bowl. During Milroe’s first three seasons in Tuscaloosa, the Tide never finished ranked lower than number five and Alabama finished the 2024 regular season ranked number eleven with a record of nine wins and three losses.
The NFF goes onto say how Milroe is majoring in management and graduating cum laude last December with a 3.52 GPA. The athlete is currently pursuing a master's in sports management. A 2023 CSC Academic All-District selection, he has made the President's List in addition to landing on the SEC Honor Roll and the Dean's List three times each.
The Katy, Texas, native is only the second Alabama player to win the Campbell Tropy after Barrett did it in 2012. Milroe is He is the school's seventh NFF National Scholar-Athlete, including Barrett Jones, Johnny Musso in 1971, Randall Hall in 1974, Steadman Shealy in 1979, DeMeco Ryans in 2005, and Greg McElroy in 2010.
A release from NFF explains how it launched in 1959 and celebrating its 66th year in 2024, and how program became the first initiative in history to award postgraduate scholarships based on a player's combined academic, athletic and leadership accomplishments, and the program has awarded $12.9 million to 938 top athletes since its inception. Candidates must be either a senior player who will complete his final year of eligibility this season OR a graduated player or grad transfer who has already earned a bachelor's degree and participated in the 2024 season; have a grade point average 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.
