National Football Foundation Release
IRVING, Texas – Slippery Rock University All-American wide receiver
Henry Litwin was named a national semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy
® in an announcement from the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame Wednesday.
Celebrating its 32nd year, the Campbell Trophy
® recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. It is presented annually to just one player from all levels of collegiate football. Nominees must be in their final year of eligibility, must own at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average, must have significant athletic credentials and must demonstrate strong leadership and citizenship.
Litwin is one of only 15 players from NCAA Division II institutions to be named a national semifinalist and becomes the second Slippery Rock player in program history to be named to the list. He joins Marcus Martin, who went on to be a national finalist and a member of the National Football Foundation's National Scholar-Athlete Class following the 2017 season.
The National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame will narrow the list of 176 total semifinalists down to 12-14 finalists that will make up the 63rd National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. Those 12-14 individuals will be announced Oct. 27 and will all receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and an invite to be recognized on stage at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner and College Football Hall of Fame Induction in Las Vegas Dec. 7. The Campbell Trophy® winner will see his scholarship increased to $25,000.
Litwin was nominated for his stellar play on the field and also for his excellence in the classroom. The Linesville, Pennsylvania native graduated from SRU in 2020 with a 3.66 grade point average with an undergraduate degree in safety management and minor in leadership. He currently owns a 4.0 GPA in graduate school and is on track to earn his master's of business administration (MBA) from The Rock this year.
He is one of only four players in Division II to be named a first team Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America in each of the last two years (2019 and 2020).
On the field, Litwin was a consensus All-American in 2019 after setting Slippery Rock single-season records with 103 receptions for 1,509 yards and 21 touchdowns. He broke the SRU career record for touchdown catches in just two years in the lineup and has extended that record out to 34 touchdown receptions four weeks into his senior season.
This fall, Litwin ranks fourth in the nation in receiving yards with 497 to go along with five touchdown catches.
In just over two plus seasons in the starting lineup, Litwin has climbed to No. 2 on the all-time receiving ledgers at Slippery Rock and enters week five of this season with 180 catches for 2,847 yards and 34 touchdowns. That total ranks him third among all active players in Division II in career yardage, just 53 yards off the top active mark in the country.
Litwin opened the 2021 season with a bang as his first touchdown catch of the season in the first quarter of the opener at Wayne State ended up on ESPN's SportsCenter as the No. 2 play from all of college football's opening week of games.
In addition to his excellence on the field and in the classroom, Litwin is also a member of the American Society of Safety Professionals and is an active participant in American Cancer Society Events, including Relay for Life. He also volunteers at numerous youth camps and clinics and has volunteered with the Special Olympics.
Numerous NFL teams have already sent scouts to campus this fall to visit Litwin.
The National Football Foundation's 63rd Scholar-Athlete Class and the Campbell Trophy
® finalists will be announced Oct. 27
PAST WINNERS OF THE CAMPBELL TROPHY®
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)
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