IC football player named as semifinalist
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced 181 semifinalists from all levels of NCAA and NAIA football on Wednesday morning for the annual William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments. Illinois College defensive back Jacob Homann '18 is one of those 181 semifinalists, 33 of which came from the Division III level.
The IC senior, hailing from Freeburg, Illinois, is second on the team with 14 solo tackles this season and has 17 tackles in total. He also had an interception in the season opener against Rose-Hulman. Homann is the first Blueboy to be named a semifinalist since Michael Bates in the 2014 season.
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. The finalists will then travel to New York City for the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5 and one finalist will be named as the winner of the William V. Campbell Trophy, which in turn will increase his scholarship 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. This year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $11.3 million. Since 2013, the Campbell Trophy® 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 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.