IRVING, Texas — UTSA senior Andrew Martel has been named a semifinalist for the 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.
Martel is one of 71 semifinalists from the Football Bowl Subdivision, including one of four from Conference USA, as 185 were selected across all divisions of college football. He is the third straight and fifth overall Roadrunner to be named a semifinalist for the award, joining Yannis Routsas (2018), Brady Jones (2017) and finalists Nate Leonard (2014) and Eric Soza (2013).
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 30, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2019 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 10, 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 30th Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
A native of Richmond, Texas, Martel has started every game at linebacker for the Roadrunners this season after making the position switch from safety following his junior campaign. The Foster High School product leads the team with 28 total tackles and 19 solo stops to go along with two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. The 6-1, 220-pounder registered double-digit tackles in back-to-back games with 10 against both Army and North Texas.
For his career, Martel has posted 106 tackles (67 solos), seven tackles for loss, three sacks, four fumble recoveries, one interception and a forced fumble in 39 contests.
Off the field, Martel is heavily involved in community service. He has volunteered his time with UTSA's Rowdy Readers program, where he visits local elementary schools to read to children and to speak about his experience as a student-athlete and doing well in school, and he participated in Dr. Seuss Day with St. Luke's School in San Antonio. A member of the Wuerffel Trophy preseason watch list, also has helped with the annual UTSA Day of Service and the For The Kids Dance Marathon each spring, and he serves on UTSA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
A four-time member of the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, Martel earned his bachelor's degree in multidisciplinary studies in May, graduating with a 3.69 GPA. He has been named to the UTSA President's List for a perfect 4.0 semester GPA twice, the Dean's List (3.75 GPA) once and the Honor Roll (3.50 GPA) three times.
Nominated by their schools, 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.
"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."
