Northwestern University Athletics
Gerak Named William V. Campbell Trophy Semifinalist
9/29/2021 11:25:00 AM | Football
IRVING, Texas — Northwestern offensive lineman Sam Gerak has been named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the National Football Foundation announced Wednesday. The award recognizes the nation's top football scholar-athlete.
Gerak is a team captain and a Rimington Award watch list honoree. The Avon, Ohio, native majored in biological studies with a minor in classical studies and completed his undergraduate classwork in June of 2021 with a 3.56 grade point average. Gerak scored in the 98th-percentile on the MCAT and plans to attend medical school following his football career. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Gerak started 23 consecutive games for the Wildcats before missing the Ohio contest (9/25) due to injury.
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 27, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas for the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 7, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 32nd Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
Nominated by their respective schools limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing 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.
Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments celebrate their 63rd year in 2021. The awards were the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on both a player's academic and athletic accomplishments, and the NFF has recognized 878 outstanding individuals since the program's inception. This year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $12.1 million.
The Campbell Trophy® was first awarded in 1990, adding to the program's prestige. Past recipients include two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and seven first-round NFL draft picks. Named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, the trophy has been prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club since 2013, and the winner is honored each year during a special luncheon at the venue.
An All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia's 1961 Ivy League championship team, Bill Campbell found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from Columbia football coach to advertising executive. His ability to recruit, develop and manage talented executives – all lessons learned on the gridiron – proved to be a critical component of his ability to inspire his business teams to the highest levels of success.
As the CEO and chairman of Intuit, Campbell's unique talent in building teams earned him the affectionate title of the "Coach of Silicon Valley," and he used the lessons of the gridiron to mentor Steve Jobs of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai and Eric Schmidt of Google, Scott Cook and Brad Smith of Intuit, John Doerr of Kleiner-Perkins, Dick Costolo at Twitter, Diane Greene of VMWare and countless others.
Campbell joined the NFF Board in 1978 while he was still a coach at Columbia, and he continued to serve with distinction until his passing in 2016. In 2004, the NFF recognized Campbell's contributions and accomplishments by presenting him with the NFF Gold Medal, the organization's highest honor. In 2009, the NFF renamed college football's premier scholar-athlete award as The William V. Campbell Trophy® in his honor.
As part of its support of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, Fidelity Investments helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes, which recognize the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives at each of the institutions with a finalist for the Campbell Trophy®. Once the finalists are selected, the NFF will present each of their faculty athletics representatives with a plaque and Fidelity will donate $5,000 for the academic support services at each school. The salutes have recognized 139 FARs since the program's inception, and Fidelity has made a total of $690,000 in donations.
Here is a breakdown of the 2021 Campbell Trophy® semifinalists by division and position:
The past recipients of the Campbell Trophy® include:
Gerak is a team captain and a Rimington Award watch list honoree. The Avon, Ohio, native majored in biological studies with a minor in classical studies and completed his undergraduate classwork in June of 2021 with a 3.56 grade point average. Gerak scored in the 98th-percentile on the MCAT and plans to attend medical school following his football career. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, Gerak started 23 consecutive games for the Wildcats before missing the Ohio contest (9/25) due to injury.
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 27, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas for the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 7, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 32nd Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
Nominated by their respective schools limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing 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.
Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments celebrate their 63rd year in 2021. The awards were the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on both a player's academic and athletic accomplishments, and the NFF has recognized 878 outstanding individuals since the program's inception. This year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $12.1 million.
The Campbell Trophy® was first awarded in 1990, adding to the program's prestige. Past recipients include two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and seven first-round NFL draft picks. Named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, the trophy has been prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club since 2013, and the winner is honored each year during a special luncheon at the venue.
An All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia's 1961 Ivy League championship team, Bill Campbell found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from Columbia football coach to advertising executive. His ability to recruit, develop and manage talented executives – all lessons learned on the gridiron – proved to be a critical component of his ability to inspire his business teams to the highest levels of success.
As the CEO and chairman of Intuit, Campbell's unique talent in building teams earned him the affectionate title of the "Coach of Silicon Valley," and he used the lessons of the gridiron to mentor Steve Jobs of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai and Eric Schmidt of Google, Scott Cook and Brad Smith of Intuit, John Doerr of Kleiner-Perkins, Dick Costolo at Twitter, Diane Greene of VMWare and countless others.
Campbell joined the NFF Board in 1978 while he was still a coach at Columbia, and he continued to serve with distinction until his passing in 2016. In 2004, the NFF recognized Campbell's contributions and accomplishments by presenting him with the NFF Gold Medal, the organization's highest honor. In 2009, the NFF renamed college football's premier scholar-athlete award as The William V. Campbell Trophy® in his honor.
As part of its support of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, Fidelity Investments helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes, which recognize the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives at each of the institutions with a finalist for the Campbell Trophy®. Once the finalists are selected, the NFF will present each of their faculty athletics representatives with a plaque and Fidelity will donate $5,000 for the academic support services at each school. The salutes have recognized 139 FARs since the program's inception, and Fidelity has made a total of $690,000 in donations.
Here is a breakdown of the 2021 Campbell Trophy® semifinalists by division and position:
- 79 Nominees from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
- 36 Nominees from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
- 15 Nominees from NCAA Division II
- 39 Nominees from NCAA Division III
- 7 Nominees from the NAIA
- 95 Offensive Players
- 64 Defensive Players
- 17 Special Teams Players
The past recipients of the Campbell Trophy® include:
1990 – Chris Howard (Air Force)
1991 – Brad Culpepper (Florida)
1992 – Jim Hansen (Colorado)
1993 – Thomas Burns (Virginia)
1994 – Rob Zatechka (Nebraska)
1995 – Bobby Hoying (Ohio State)
1996 – Danny Wuerffel (Florida)
1997 – Peyton Manning (Tennessee)
1998 – Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia)
1999 – Chad Pennington (Marshall)
2000 – Kyle Vanden Bosch (Nebraska)
2001 – Joaquin Gonzalez (Miami [FL])
2002 – Brandon Roberts (Washington U. in St. Louis [MO])
2003 – Craig Krenzel (Ohio State)
2004 – Michael Munoz (Tennessee)
2005 – Rudy Niswanger (LSU)
2006 – Brian Leonard (Rutgers)
2007 – Dallas Griffin (Texas)
2008 – Alex Mack (California)
2009 – Tim Tebow (Florida)
2010 – Sam Acho (Texas)
2011 – Andrew Rodriguez (Army West Point)
2012 – Barrett Jones (Alabama)
2013 – John Urschel (Penn State)
2014 – David Helton (Duke)
2015 – Ty Darlington (Oklahoma)
2016 – Zach Terrell (Western Michigan)
2017 – Micah Kiser (Virginia)
2018 – Christian Wilkins (Clemson)
2019 – Justin Herbert (Oregon)
2020 – Brady White (Memphis)
1991 – Brad Culpepper (Florida)
1992 – Jim Hansen (Colorado)
1993 – Thomas Burns (Virginia)
1994 – Rob Zatechka (Nebraska)
1995 – Bobby Hoying (Ohio State)
1996 – Danny Wuerffel (Florida)
1997 – Peyton Manning (Tennessee)
1998 – Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia)
1999 – Chad Pennington (Marshall)
2000 – Kyle Vanden Bosch (Nebraska)
2001 – Joaquin Gonzalez (Miami [FL])
2002 – Brandon Roberts (Washington U. in St. Louis [MO])
2003 – Craig Krenzel (Ohio State)
2004 – Michael Munoz (Tennessee)
2005 – Rudy Niswanger (LSU)
2006 – Brian Leonard (Rutgers)
2007 – Dallas Griffin (Texas)
2008 – Alex Mack (California)
2009 – Tim Tebow (Florida)
2010 – Sam Acho (Texas)
2011 – Andrew Rodriguez (Army West Point)
2012 – Barrett Jones (Alabama)
2013 – John Urschel (Penn State)
2014 – David Helton (Duke)
2015 – Ty Darlington (Oklahoma)
2016 – Zach Terrell (Western Michigan)
2017 – Micah Kiser (Virginia)
2018 – Christian Wilkins (Clemson)
2019 – Justin Herbert (Oregon)
2020 – Brady White (Memphis)
2021 WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY® SEMIFINALISTS
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Alabama - Chris Owens
Appalachian State - Thomas Hennigan
Arizona - Bryce Wolma
Arkansas - Grant Morgan
Army - Arik Smith
Auburn - Anders Carlson
Baylor - Jalen Pitre
Boise State - Riley Whimpey
Boston College - Zion Johnson
Brigham Young - James Empey
Buffalo - Jack Klenk
California - Elijah Hicks
Central Michigan - Bernhard Raimann
Clemson - Matt Bockhorst
Colorado - Matt Lynch
Connecticut - Brian Keating
Duke - Jake Bobo
Eastern Michigan - Thomas Odukoya
Florida - Jeremiah Moon
Florida Atlantic - John Mitchell
Fresno State - Matt Smith
Georgia State - Jaylon Jones
Georgia Tech - Ryan Johnson
Houston - Donavan Mutin
Illinois - Doug Kramer
Indiana - Jack Tuttle
Iowa - Zach VanValkenburg
Iowa State - Charlie Kolar
Kansas State - Landry Weber
Kentucky - Luke Fortner
Louisiana - Nate Snyder
LSU - Avery Atkins
Memphis - Kylan Watkins
Miami (FL) - Lou Hedley
Michigan - Aidan Hutchinson
Michigan State - AJ Arcuri
Minnesota - Conner Olson
Mississippi - Ben Brown
Mississippi State - Austin Williams
Missouri - Tyler Badie
Navy - Isaac Ruoss
Nebraska - Ben Stille
North Carolina State - Trenton Gill
Northern Illinois - Tyrice Richie
Northwestern - Sam Gerak
Ohio State - Jeremy Ruckert
Oklahoma - Patrick Fields
Oklahoma State - Logan Carter
Old Dominion - Isaac Weaver
Oregon - Dru Mathis
Oregon State - Andrzej Hughes-Murray
Penn State - Sean Clifford
Pittsburgh - Kirk Christodoulou
Purdue - Zander Horvath
Rice - Trey Schuman
Rutgers - Noah Vedral
San Jose State - Jack Snyder
South Carolina - Spencer Eason-Riddle
Southern California - Nick Figueroa
Southern Methodist - Hayden Howerton
Stanford - Thomas Booker
Syracuse - Kingsley Jonathan
Temple - Michael Niese
Tennessee - Matthew Butler
Texas - Cameron Dicker
Texas at San Antonio - Hunter Duplessis
Toledo - Bailey Flint
Tulane - Nick Anderson
UCF - Eriq Gilyard
UCLA - Shea Pitts
UNLV - Charles Williams
Utah - Keegan Markgraf
Utah State - Nick Heninger
Wake Forest - Zach Tom
Washington - Race Porter
West Virginia - Sean Mahone
Western Michigan - Mike Caliendo
Wisconsin - Matt Henningsen
Wyoming - Ayden Eberhardt
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