NEW YORK CITY — College football’s most prestigious award honoring both athletic and academic achievement is coming home to Eugene. Oregon senior quarterback Justin Herbert, a Eugene native who led the Ducks to a Pac-12 Championship game win Friday, was awarded the William V. Campbell Trophy on Tuesday by the National Football Foundation and presenting sponsor Mazda. Considered the “academic Heisman,” the Campbell Trophy honors academic and athletic success along with leadership and community achievement. Herbert was named the 30th Campbell Trophy winner Tuesday night at the NFF’s Hall of Fame banquet in midtown Manhattan. He and his family were in attendance, and will travel to Atlanta for recognition as the Campbell Trophy winner during Thursday’s College Football Awards Show. “It’s an incredible honor to be standing here accepting this award, and I’d like to thank the National Football Foundation for hosting such a memorable event,” Herbert said upon receiving the trophy. “I am honored to be joining the incredible people who have previously received this award. I will strive to uphold the legacy of every winner of the Campbell Trophy before me.” Herbert was the third Campbell Trophy finalist from Oregon, following in the footsteps of fellow quarterbacks Bill Musgrave and Dennis Dixon. He was the second winner who competed in the Pac-12 Conference, after former California offensive lineman Alex Mack. “Justin is so deserving of this, one of the highest honors in all of college athletics and certainly one of the highest in college football,” said Oregon director of athletics Rob Mullens, who was on hand for the event along with UO football coach Mario Cristobal. “To be the recipient in the 30th anniversary of the Campbell Trophy just validates the incredible hard work Justin has put in, the support that he’s had from his family and what a wonderful young man he is.” The Campbell Trophy honor followed Monday’s news that Herbert had been named CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for Division I Football, for the second year in a row. He was just the third D-I football player to win the award twice, along with fellow Campbell Trophy recipients Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow, both quarterbacks from Florida. Last week, Herbert was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year for football by the Pac-12 Conference. A general science major with a focus in biology, Herbert has a 4.01 grade-point average as an undergraduate. He enters Oregon’s Rose Bowl appearance sixth in Pac-12 history with 95 touchdowns passes and 16th in career passing yards with 10,403, after leading the Ducks over Utah in Friday’s conference title game. He has a touchdown pass in 40 of his 41 career starts, and is the active leader in TD passes among Football Bowl Subdivision players. “I’d like to thank my parents for sacrificing so much so that my brothers and I could have every opportunity that we could ever ask for,” Herbert said. “To my brothers, thank you for not only being my brothers but for being my lifelong friends. “I’d like to thank coach Mario Cristobal and coach Marcus Arroyo for everything they’ve taught us both on and off the field. I’d also like to thank our athletic director, Rob Mullens, president Michael Schill and the staff at the Jaqua Academic Center for everything they’ve done for this program. “Finally, I’d like to thank every member of our team for making this such a special year for the University of Oregon. Playing in the Rose Bowl has been a dream of mine, and I can’t wait to play one last game with you all.”
