National Football Foundation Press Release (PDF)  |  NFF Website Full Announcement
 
IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Football Hall of Fame has announced Slippery Rock University quarterback Brayden Long as a member of the 2024 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments and one of just 16 national finalists from all levels of college football for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy®.
 
The Campbell Trophy®, which includes names like Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow on its list of former winners, is college football's premier scholar-athlete award that annually recognizes an individual as the best in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
 
"We are thrilled to announce this year's finalists for the Campbell Trophy®," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (a Campbell Trophy® recipient) and Eli were NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "These exceptional young men embody an unwavering commitment to excellence in all areas of their lives, from the classroom to the football field. They truly represent the best of college football, and we know they have only begun to reach their potential."
 
Long, who is the only NCAA Division II player in this year's National Scholar-Athlete Class, will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship from Fidelity Investments and an expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to be recognized at the 2024 NFF Annual Awards Dinner in December, where he will share the stage with the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame inductees. Members of this year's Hall of Fame class include Randy Moss, Alex Smith, Julius Peppers, Larry Fitzgerald and Warrick Dunn, among others.
 
"This is such an incredible honor for Brayden, his family, Slippery Rock University and our program," said SRU head coach Shawn Lutz. "Brayden is a guy that went against the trends in college football right now. Instead of transferring when he didn't start his first two years, he stuck with our program, kept learning and working hard and has now become one of the best quarterbacks in program history. Not only is he an exceptional football player, but he is an even better student and person. He is the perfect student-athlete to represent Division II as a finalist for this prestigious honor."
 
Long becomes the third Slippery Rock player to ever be named a finalist for the Campbell Trophy®, joining Marcus Martin, who was a member of the 2017 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class and Henry Litwin, who was part of the 2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class.
 
Slippery Rock is the only school in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference to ever have a Campbell Trophy® finalist and now ranks second among all current NCAA Division II schools in the total number of finalists, trailing only the four from Colorado School of Mines.
 
Long is joined by 15 other players from all levels of college football as national finalists for the Campbell Trophy®, with the majority of the honorees coming from the Division I FBS level, including Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin and Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.
 
Of the 16 finalists, Long is one of only two with a perfect 4.0 GPA and he is one of only three that were Players of the Year in their conference, All-Americans on the field and Academic All-Americans in the classroom.
 
Nominated by their institution's Athletic Communication Offices, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the award 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 finalists for the award are 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.
 
Long, a post-baccalaureate student from Hanover, Pennsylvania, earned his undergraduate degree from Slippery Rock in May after graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA as a sport management major with a minor in leadership.
 
The Campbell Trophy® finalist honor is the latest in a growing list of academic awards earned by Long. He was named the Atlantic Region Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2023-24 academic year by the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association, becoming the only football player in the country to win one of the eight regional awards. That honor came after Long was named as the 2023-24 PSAC Pete Nevins Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, which is the top academic award the PSAC hands out each year. Long was also named the PSAC Champion Scholar Award winner in 2023 for owning the highest GPA of all players competing in the conference title game. He became the first football player in PSAC history to earn a Champion Scholar award and be named as one of the conference's Athletes of the Year for their athletic performance.
 
The academic awards didn't end at the conference and regional level, as Long was also one of just two Division II quarterbacks in the country and seven quarterbacks from all levels of college football to be named to the 2023 Academic All-America team by the College Sports Communicators. He was also one of just 26 men from all sports in Division II to earn one of the 2023-24 NCAA Division II 50th Anniversary Scholarships in recognition of his academics, athletics and community leadership.
 
All of the academic honors came after Long had a breakout junior season in his first year as The Rock's starting quarterback last fall. He led Super Region One and ranked in the top 10 nationally in nearly every major passing category after completing 69 percent of his passes for 3,808 yards with 35 touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also ran for five touchdowns and finished the year ranked in the top 10 in Division II in passing yards, passing TD, points responsible for, passing efficiency and completion percentage. His 3,808 yards and 35 TD passes both rank No. 2 in SRU program history.
 
Long led Slippery Rock to a 12-2 record in 2023 with a fifth straight PSAC West title and a fifth straight trip to the NCA Playoffs. The Rock are off to a 6-1 start this fall and currently are ranked No. 15 in the Division II national rankings with Long leading the team as a second-year captain.
 
His athletic performance last fall earned him the PSAC West and Super Region One Offensive Athlete of the Year awards and made him one of eight national finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy, presented to the Division II Player of the Year. Long finished fifth in the national voting for the Harlon Hill and went on to add All-America honors from the Dan Hansen Football Gazette and D2football.com. Entering this fall, he was named to the D2football.com Elite 100 Watchlist, which replaced the Preseason All-America team.
 
The most accurate passer in Slippery Rock program history, Long has a career completion percentage of 67.6 percent (484-of-716). He has thrown for 5,629 yards with 49 touchdowns and just eight interceptions while also rushing for 104 yards and nine touchdowns. He ranks fourth in SRU history in completions, yards and touchdown passes and is just the fourth quarterback in program history to throw for more than 5,000 yards.
 
In addition to his performance in the classroom and on the field, Long has been involved with numerous community service, volunteer and leadership positions, including serving as team captain for the last two seasons. He is an officer with the SRU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a founding member of TEAM Rock, a student-athlete led campus ministry. Long also serves as an admissions tour guide on campus, routinely giving prospective students and their families campus tours throughout the year, even during the football season. He volunteers annually on Dr. Seuss Day by going to local elementary schools to read to children as part of the Read Across America program.
 
Long has also volunteered with the Pennsylvania Special Olympics, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Hanover Youth Sports, the Slippery Rock Community Library, Slippery Rock Parks and Recreation, Slippery Rock High School Athletics, Westminster College Athletics and the Butler County 3v3 Basketball Tournament.
 
The 16 finalists for the Campbell Trophy® were selected from a list of 203 total semifinalists that were announced last month. The Campbell Trophy® winner will be announced live on stage at the NFF Awards Dinner at the Bellagio Resort and Casino December 10. The winner will see his scholarship increased to $25,000 and he will be recognized on the Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN Dec. 12, as well as at a special reception at the New York Athletic Club Dec. 16.
 
2024 CAMPBELL TROPHY® FINALISTS
• Tahj Brooks, RB – Texas Tech (3.55 GPA – Sport Management)
• Robert Coury, LB – Carnegie Mellon [PA] (3.97 GPA – Mechanical Engineering)
• Jaxson Dart, QB – Ole Miss (3.71 GPA – Business)
• Beau Freyler, DB – Iowa State (3.91 GPA – Kinesiology)
• Dillon Gabriel, QB – Oregon (3.43 GPA – Multidisciplinary Studies)
• Ashton Gillotte, DL – Louisville (3.69 GPA – Communications)
• Brody Grebe, DE – Montana State (3.93 GPA – Mechanical Engineering)
• Mark Gronowski, QB – South Dakota State (3.76 GPA – Mechanical Engineering)
• Terrance Hollon, LB – Howard (3.90 GPA – Health Science)
• Jack Kiser, LB – Notre Dame (3.82 GPA – Business Analytics)
• Luke Lehnen, QB – North Central (3.76 GPA – Exercise Science)
• Brayden Long, QB – Slippery Rock (4.00 GPA – Sport Management)
• Jake Majors, C – Texas (3.65 GPA – Business Management)
• Seth McLaughlin, C – Ohio State (4.00 GPA – Finance)
• Jalen Milroe, QB – Alabama (3.52 GPA – Management)
• Jackson Woodard, LB – UNLV (3.77 GPA – Kinesiology)
 
ABOUT THE WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY®
The trophy is named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, an All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia's 1961 Ivy League championship team who 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 strong leadership and unique talent in building teams allowed him to become one of the most influential individuals in Silicon Valley. Using the lessons of the gridiron he mentored 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. His contributions have been captured in a book titled "The Trillion Dollar Coach," and during his lifetime, he affectionally became known as the "Coach of Silicon Valley."
 
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® as an inspiration to future generations.
 
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)
2021 – Charlie Kolar (Iowa State)
2022 – Jack Campbell (Iowa)
2023 – Bo Nix (Oregon)
 
Read more about the Campbell Trophy® HERE.




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