The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced the names of twenty “Players to Watch” for its 2019 Player of the Year award, the fourth-oldest college football award in the nation.

“It’s been another exciting college football season with many teams and players still in the hunt for national recognition,” Foundation president Mario Coppola said. “We’ve identified some outstanding players and we know the final weeks of the regular season should be even more thrilling.”

Players from the top 12 teams in the most recent College Football Playoff rankings are on the list, including quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase from top-ranked LSU (10-0). Running back JK Dobbin and quarterback Justin Fields from second-ranked Ohio State (10-0) are on the watch list along with three players – quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Isaiah Simmons – from third-ranked Clemson (11-0).

The 20-player watch list includes six running backs, six quarterbacks, four receivers/tight ends and four defensive players. Fourteen different schools and five conferences are represented on the list.

The Walter Camp Player of the Year is voted on by the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors.   A list of five finalists will be announced on Thursday, December 5, and the winner announced on ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 12. 

The 2019 Player of the Year will be recognized along with the Walter Camp All-America team at the Foundation’s national awards dinner on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Yale University’s Lanman Center. 

The 2018 Walter Camp Player of the Year was Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

2019 Walter Camp Player of the Year Semifinalists

Joe Burrow, QB, Senior, LSU

Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Sophomore, LSU

AJ Dillon, RB, Junior, Boston College

JK Dobbins, RB, Junior, Ohio State

Travis Etienne, RB, Junior, Clemson

Justin Fields, QB, Sophomore, Ohio State

Justin Herbert, QB, Senior, Oregon

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Sophomore, Oklahoma State

Tyler Huntley, QB, Senior, Utah

Jalen Hurts, QB, Senior, Oklahoma

Cee Dee Lamb, WR, Junior, Oklahoma

Trevor Lawrence, QB, Junior, Clemson

Micah Parsons, LB, Sophomore, Penn State

Kyle Pitts, TE, Sophomore, Florida

Isaiah Simmons, LB, Redshirt Junior, Clemson

Devonta Smith, WR, Junior, Alabama

D’Andre Swift, RB, Junior, Georgia

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Junior, Wisconsin

Antoine Winfield, DB, RS Sophomore, Minnesota

Chase Young, DE, Junior, Ohio State

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 (www.waltercamp.org,@WalterCampFF) – 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.  The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association’s website, www.ncfaa.org

Former University of Pittsburgh standout and Pro Football Hall of Famer Curtis Martin is the recipient of the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s 2019 “Man of the Year” award.

The Walter Camp “Man of the Year” award honors an individual who has been closely associated with the game of football as a player, coach or close attendant to the game. He must have attained a measure of success and been a leader in his chosen profession. He must have contributed to the public service for the benefit of his community, country and his fellow man. He must have an impeccable reputation for integrity and must be dedicated to our American Heritage and the philosophy of Walter Camp.

Martin joins a distinguished list of former “Man of the Year” winners, including Roger Staubach (Navy), Gale Sayers (Kansas), Dick Butkus (Illinois), John Elway (Stanford), Jerome Bettis (Notre Dame), and last year’s recipient Mike Golas (Notre Dame).

“We are thrilled to honor Curtis Martin as our Man of the Year,” Foundation President Mario Coppola said. “In addition to his Hall of Fame playing career, Martin’s volunteer work and compassion for others truly embodies what our Foundation stands for.”                                                                                                         

A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Martin attended the University of Pittsburgh where he rushed for 1,045 yards his junior season in 1993.  After rushing for a career-best 251 yards in his first game his senior season, he suffered a season-ending injury.

Martin was drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round with the 74th overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. He was an 11-year NFL veteran for the Patriots and New York Jets, amassing 14,101 rushing yards – the fifth-highest total in NFL history.      

Martin was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1995 after rushing for 1,487 yards and 14 touchdowns for the Patriots, who reached Super Bowl XXI.  Martin would go on to rush for 1,000 or more yards in 10 of his 11 professional seasons, and was named to five Pro Bowls. He earned All-Pro honors in 2001 and 2004.  In 2004, he rushed for a career-best 1,697 yards and 12 touchdowns as a member of the Jets. 

In 2012, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and later that year, the Jets retired Martin’s No. 28 jersey.

Following his retirement, Martin has involved himself in charity work, including the Curtis Martin Job Foundation, established by Martin during his playing career, and designed to provide “financial aid and hands-on support to single mothers, children’s charities, individuals with disabilities and low income housing providers.”

Martin and his wife Carolina and two daughters currently reside in Long Island.

         Martin, along with the 130^th annual Walter Camp All-America team and other award winners, will be honored at the organization’s 53^rd national awards banquet on Saturday, January 18, 2020, at Yale University’s Lanman Center in New Haven.   For more information, visit www.waltercamp.org

         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.

Walter Camp Man of the Year Recipients

2019 – Curtis Martin, Pittsburgh

2018 – Mike Golic, Notre Dame

2017 – Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech

2016 – Warrick Dunn, Florida State

2015 – Fred Biletnikoff, Florida State; Joe Andruzzi, Southern Connecticut State University

2014 – Jerome Bettis, Notre Dame

2013 – Matt Millen, Penn State

2012 – Herm Edwards, San Diego State

2011 – Harry Carson, South Carolina State

2010 – Will Shields, Nebraska

2009 – John Elway, Stanford

2008 – Morten Andersen, Michigan State

2007– Dick Butkus, University of Illinois

2006 – Mike Utley, Washington State

2005 – Dwight Stephenson, Alabama

2004 – Anthony Munoz, Southern California

2003 – Ozzie Newsome, Alabama

2002 – Jim Kelly, Miami (Fla.)

2001 – Mike Singletary, Baylor

2000 – Howie Long, Villanova

1999 – Gil Brandt, Dallas Cowboys

1998 – Lou Holtz, Kent State University

1997 – Calvin Hill, Yale

1996 – Lynn Swann, Southern California

1995 – Reggie Williams, Dartmouth

1994 – Dick Anderson, Colorado

1993 – Warren Moon, Washington

1992 – Bob Griese, Purdue

1991 – Mel Blount, Southern

1990 – Nick Buoniconti, Notre Dame

1989 – Paul Brown, Miami (Ohio)

1988 – Andy Robustelli, Arnold

1987 – Levi Jackson, Yale

1986 – Willie Davis, Grambling

1985 – Ricky Bleier, Notre Dame

1984 – Don Shula, John Carroll

1983 – Roger Staubach, Navy

1982 – Merlin Olsen, Utah State

1981 – Otto Graham, Northwestern

1980 – Gale Sayers, Kansas

1979 – Jack Kemp, Occidental

1978 – Floyd Little, Syracuse

1977 – Fred Dunlap, Colgate

1976 – Edward Krause, Notre Dame

1975 – Pete Dawkins, Army

1974 – Jake Gaither, Knoxville College/Florida A&M

1973 – Duffy Daugherty, Syracuse/Michigan State

1972 – Clinton Frank, Yale

1971 – Doc Blanchard, Army

1970 – Harry Kipke, Michigan

1969 – Pete Rozelle, San Francisco

1968 – Ted Blair, Yale

1967 – Hamilton Fish, Harvard

www.waltercamp.org

The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced the Football Bowl Subdivision National Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, presented by Generation UCAN, for games ending November 2.

About the Award: This is the 16^th year that the Walter Camp Football Foundation will honor one offensive and one defensive player as its national Football Bowl Subdivision player of the week during the regular season. Recipients are selected by a panel of national media members and administered by the Foundation.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

ANTONIO GIBSON, MEMPHIS

Senior, Wide Receiver/Kick Returner, Stockbridge, GA/East Central CC

Antonio Gibson set a school record with 386 all-purpose yards and scored touchdowns in three different ways (rushing, receiving and kickoff return) as 24^th-ranked Memphis defeated 15^th-ranked SMU, 54-48.  Gibson rushed for 97 yards, including a 78-yard scoring run, and had 130 receiving yards, including a 50-yard scoring reception.  He added a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. 

Notes: Antonio Gibson is the second Memphis player to receive Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors since 2004, joining former Tiger quarterback Riley Ferguson (Sept. 17, 2017).

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

GREG ROUSSEAU, MIAMI (FLA.)

Redshirt Freshman, Defensive End, Coconut Creek, FL/Champagnat Catholic

Greg Rousseau had eight tackles, including five for losses, and four quarterback sacks as Miami (Fla.) defeated ACC-rival Florida State, 27-10.   Rousseau led a Hurricane defensive unit that held the Seminoles to just 31 rushing yards.  With the win, Miami improved to 5-4, 3-3 in the ACC.

Notes: Greg Rousseau is the fourth Miami player to earn Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors since 2004, and the first since defensive back Jaquan Jackson (Nov. 12, 2017).

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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 (www.waltercamp.org,@WalterCampFF) – 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.  The Foundation is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association’s website, www.ncfaa.org