IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) included Albion College running back Mike Czarnecki among its 135 semifinalists for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments®, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.
The NFF will announce 15 finalists on Oct. 29, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 8, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. At the event, one member of the class will be declared in dramatic fashion the winner of the 26th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
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 Campbell Trophy is a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient’s grant by $7,000 for a total postgraduate scholarship of $25,000. A total distribution of more than $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, pushing the program’s all-time distribution to more than $11 million.
Czarnecki, a senior from Trenton who one of just 27 Division III players and the only one from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association to make the semifinalist list, ranks among the national leaders in a number of rushing categories. He’s third in rushing yards (537) and yards per carry (10 ½) and 16th with five rushing touchdowns.