Football | September 25, 2019

IRVING, Texas – Western Michigan senior quarterback Jon Wassink has been named a semifinalist for the 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced Wednesday.

Celebrating its 30th year in 2019, the award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. The NFF will announce 12 to 14 finalists on October 30 and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. One of the finalists will be named the winner of The William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda during the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 10 in New York City, and his postgraduate scholarship will be increased to $25,000.

In December of 2016, Western Michigan won the first William V. Campbell Trophy in program history as former quarterback Zach Terrell took home the prestigious honor.

Wassink, a 6-2, 208-pound Grand Rapids, Mich., native has helped Western Michigan's offense to a quick start in 2019 as the Broncos lead the Mid-American Conference in scoring offense (38.8 points/game), total offense (515.2 yards/game) and pass efficiency (164.1) while standing second in passing offense (313.2 yards/game) and third in rushing offense (202.0 yards/game). Wassink has completed 58-of-82 passes for 866 yards and seven touchdowns against just two interceptions. He is averaging 288.7 yards passing per tilt this fall.

In the classroom, Wassink graduated from Western Michigan in December with a degree in accountancy and 3.95 cumulative grade-point average. A two-time All-MAC Academic Football Team selection, Wassink has also been a two-time MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete and named to the WMU Dean's List every semester on campus.

Off the field, Wassink is part of the Bronco Buddies program at the Tree of Life, a school that provides a Christ-centered education to all children regardless of socio-economic status. He has been a four-year member of the program, taking part in its once-a-month activities on Sundays. Events include trips to go swimming, bowling or visit the zoo. During the spring of 2016, Wassink traveled to the Dominican Republic and helped build a basketball court for a village of 100 people. He also helped repair fences for a community bridge used by villagers daily and gained perspective and purpose through his work.

"These 185 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy® winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "For more than 60 years, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete program has showcased more than 800 college football players who have been successful on the football field, in the classroom and in the community. And we are excited to celebrate the 30th year of the William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, which honors the best of the best. This year's semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders."

Named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, former chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda 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. This year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $11.7 million.

"The NFF would like to personally congratulate each of the nominees as well as their schools and coaches on their tremendous accomplishments," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist's achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates."

Nominated by their schools, which are 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 61st year in 2019. 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 854 outstanding individuals since their inception. The Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda was first awarded in 1990 and is celebrating its 30th year in 2019. The trophy adds to the program's prestige, having previously honored two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and six first-round NFL draft picks.

Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of workplace savings plans in higher education, serves as the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards. Since 2013, the Campbell Trophy® has been prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club.

The past recipients of The William V. Campbell Trophy® include: Air Force's Chris Howard (1990); Florida's Brad Culpepper (1991); Colorado's Jim Hansen (1992); Virginia's Thomas Burns (1993); Nebraska's Rob Zatechka (1994); Ohio State's Bobby Hoying (1995); Florida's Danny Wuerffel (1996); Tennessee's Peyton Manning (1997); Georgia's Matt Stinchcomb (1998); Marshall's Chad Pennington (1999); Nebraska's Kyle Vanden Bosch (2000); Miami (Fla.)'s Joaquin Gonzalez (2001); Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.)'s Brandon Roberts (2002); Ohio State's Craig Krenzel (2003); Tennessee's Michael Munoz (2004); LSU's Rudy Niswanger (2005); Rutgers' Brian Leonard (2006); Texas' Dallas Griffin (2007); California's Alex Mack (2008); Florida's Tim Tebow (2009); Texas' Sam Acho (2010); Army West Point's Andrew Rodriguez (2011); Alabama's Barrett Jones (2012); Penn State's John Urschel (2013); Duke's David Helton (2014); Oklahoma's Ty Darlington (2015); Terrell (2016); Virginia's Micah Kiser (2017); and Clemson's Christian Wilkins (2018).

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