The Walter Camp Connecticut Player of the Year
Presented by the Outlier Project
Presented to the top college football player who is a resident and/or played scholastically in the state of Connecticut. The award is voted on by the Walter Camp Football Foundation membership.
New Canaan’s Drew Pyne Named Walter Camp 2022 Connecticut Player of the Year, presented by The Outlier Project
New Canaan’s Drew Pyne has been selected as Walter Camp’s 2022 Connecticut Player of the Year, presented by The Outlier Project. Pyne, who is now attending Arizona State, played the 2022 season for the University of Notre Dame.
The award is presented to the top college football player who is a resident and/or played scholastically in the state of Connecticut. The award is voted on by the Walter Camp Football Foundation membership.
Pyne assumed the starting role in the third game of the 2022 season. He led the Fighting Irish to an 8-2 record in his 10 starts, including a five-game winning streak. He completed 164-of-254 passes, for 2,021 yards (a 64.6 percentage). He threw for 22 touchdowns and had just six interceptions. He had a 155.3 quarterback rating, which ranked 20th in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Pyne passed for 200 or more yards five times, including a season-high 318 against sixth-ranked USC on November 26. He threw for a season-high four touchdowns in a 35-32 win over Navy on November 12, and led the Fighting Irish to a 35-14 win over then fourth-ranked Clemson on Nov. 5. Pyne passed for one touchdown and rushed for one in the victory. Pyne’s top target during the 2022 season was Walter Camp First Team All-America tight end Michael Mayer.
In December, Pyne transferred to Arizona State and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Pyne attended New Canaan High School where he was coached by Lou Marinelli. As a senior, he completed 161 of 252 passes for 2,107 yards and 24 touchdowns and earned Walter Camp Second Team All-Connecticut honors. He ended his scholastic career as the school’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns and led the Rams to a state title in 2016.
Pyne will be honored, along with the members of the 2022 Walter Camp All-America Team, Player of Year Caleb Williams (USC) and Coach of Year Sonny Dykes (TCU) at the Foundation’s 57th National Awards Dinner, presented by 777 Partners, on Saturday, March 11 in at Yale’s University Schwarzman Center in New Haven. National Awards Dinner tickets are $350 and available at https://waltercamp.org/product/awards-dinner/
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. Visit www.waltercamp.org for more information.
The Outlier Project is a unique membership community for professional development (personal development IS professional development) and is for anyone who believes success is found by showing up differently. We are fond of saying, “anyone can be ordinary”. A special focus of The Outlier Project is to develop leaders who believe that companies and individuals alike succeed or fail based on the quality of the teams they build and the relationships they invest in. We call this having a “People Over Everything” mindset. Visit www.theoutlierproject.co/
Connecticut Player of the Year
Presented to the top college football player who is a resident and/or played scholastically in the state of Connecticut. The award is voted on by the Walter Camp Football Foundation membership.
2022 – Drew Pyne, QB, Notre Dame (Arizona State)
2021 – Will Levis, QB, Kentucky; Tyler Van Dyke, QB, Miami
2020 – Andrew Stueber, OL, Michigan
2019 – Christian Montano, C, Tulane
2018 – Zach Allen, DE, Boston College
2017 – Ervin Philips, WR, Syracuse
2016 – Noel Thomas, WR, Connecticut
2015 – Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple
2014 – Tyler Murphy, QB, Boston College
2013 – Kevin Pierre-Louis, LB, Boston College
2012 – Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State
2011 – Silas Redd, RB, Penn State
2010 – John Moffitt, OL, Wisconsin
2009 – Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida
2008 – Kory Sheets, RB, Purdue
2007 – Mike McLeod, RB, Yale
2006 – Kory Sheets, RB, Purdue
2005 – John Sullivan, C, Notre Dame
2004 – Anttaj Hawthorne, DT, Wisconsin; Dan Orlovsky, QB, Connecticut
2003 – Dan Orlovsky, QB, Connecticut
2002 – Niko Koutouvides, LB, Purdue
2001 – Dwight Freeney, DE, Syracuse
2000 – Peter Mazza, LB, Yale
1999 – Bobby Myers, DB, Wisconsin
1998 – Carl Bond, RB, Connecticut
1997 – Kyle McIntosh, RB, Syracuse
1996 – Tarek Salah, LB, Wisconsin
1995 – Tarek Salah, LB, Wisconsin
1994 – Jason Miska, LB, Auburn
1993 – Chris Zingo, LB, Cornell
1992 – Curtis Eller, LB, Villanova
1991 – Corey Vincent, DL, Holy Cross
1990 – Rob Thomson, DB, Syracuse
1989 – Terry Wooden, LB, Syracuse
1988 – Glenn Antrum, WR, Connecticut
1987 – Bill Romanowski, LB, Boston College
1986 – Richard Comizio, RB, Pennsylvania
1985 – Tom Patton, DE, Holy Cross
1984 – No recipient
1983 – Steve Young, QB, Brigham Young
1982 – Mike Marshall, DB, Southern Conn.
1981 – Richard Diana, RB, Yale
