Micah Kiser named finalist for Campbell Trophy

Micah Kiser is a phenomenal football player. This is well known. He’s led the ACC the last two seasons in total tackles, and is in second place in the conference this season (behind teammate Quin Blanding). So far in 2017, the fifth-year from Baltimore has been named a midseason second-team All-American by the Associated Press to go along with being a semifinalist for the Butkus Award (for the best linebacker) and a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy (best defensive player on and off the field).

Well, there’s a new honor for Kiser:

The William V. Campbell Trophy, which is presented by Fidelity Investments, recognizes one player as “...the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation” and has been dubbed the “Academic Heisman”.

From the official release:

The recipient of the Campbell Trophy will also be honored at the NFF Board of Directors meeting and at a reception hosted by its official home, the New York Athletic Club, on Wednesday, Dec. 6. He will then fly to Atlanta to be recognized during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN at the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 7. Finally, as part of the NFF’s partnership with the College Football Playoff (CFP), the Campbell Trophy winner will return to Atlanta to be recognized on the field during the CFP National Championship on Jan. 8, 2018.

As a result of being named a finalist, Kiser has earned an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. Coach Mendenhall let his superstar defender know after practice, and lucky for us, there’s video.

He is one of 13 finalists and is joined by Miami’s Braxton Berrios as the only representatives from the ACC. Kiser becomes the fifth Cavalier to earn this distinction alongside Stephen Phelan, Jr. (1997), Tiki Barber (1996), Gary Cuozzo (1962), and Tom Burns, who won the award in 1994.