Matt Anderson Named Semifinalist For Campbell Trophy
Matt Anderson was named a semifinalist Wednesday for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy® presented by Fidelity Investments®. The semifinalists for the award that recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation were announced by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame (NFF).
"These 181 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal," NFF Chairman Archie Manning said. "It is important for us to showcase their success on the football field, in the classroom and in the community. This year's semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders."
Anderson has played in 30 career games and is Cal's active career leader in scoring with 252 points to rank sixth on the school's all-time list, making 46-of-57 (80.7%) field goal attempts as well as 114-of-117 (97.4%) extra-point tries. In addition to being a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy also commonly known as the academic Heisman and Cal's nominee for the Senior CLASS Award, Anderson is a member of the preseason watch list for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award after being a semifinalist for the honor and an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection as a 2016 junior. Anderson had a banner junior season by establishing Cal's modern-era single-season record for points with 117 to rank second all-time while equaling the school's all-time single-season mark for field goals made (22) and leading the team in both categories as well as PATs (51-51). Anderson was a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic choice as a sophomore before earning second-team honors as well as CoSIDA Academic All-District® recognition as a junior. He also earned the Golden Bear Achievement Award from the Athletic Study Center at the Student-Athlete Academic Honors Luncheon for being the Cal football player with the highest cumulative GPA each of his first three seasons at Cal from 2013-15. He has made 6-of-10 field goals and 13-of-14 extra points in 2017 for a team-high 31 points.
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Nov. 1, 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 60h NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5, 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 28th William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
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® is a 25-pound bronze trophy and since 2013 has been prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club.
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 season 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.
Cal's Alex Mack was the recipient of the honor in 2007 while Mike Mohamed was the team's most recent finalist in 2010.