WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army senior DE Zach Watts has been named one of 147 candidates for the 2012 National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Awards. The list of honorees are also considered semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy which is presented to the nation's top football scholar-athlete.

 

Candidates were nominated by their schools which were limited to one nominee each. In order to be nominated, players must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of 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.

 

Click Watts, an Engineering Management major, boasts a 3.46 grade point average. He earned CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors in 2011.Here to view this Link.

Watts tied for the team lead in sacks and made 6.5 tackles for loss as a junior, and was named to the preseason watch list for the 2012 Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is presented to the nation's top defensive player.

 

The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients, and the results will be announced on Thursday, October 25. Each recipient will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will serve as finalists for the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the 2012 National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City to be honored December 4 during the 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the Campbell Trophy. 



The Campbell Trophy comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient's grant by $7,000 for a total post-graduate scholarship of $25,000. In 2011, Army's Andrew Rodriguez became the first Black Knight to claim the honor.

Other past recipients include Peyton Manning, Chad Pennington, Danny Wuerffel, Craig Krenzel, Brian Leonard and Tim Tebow.