Sept. 25, 2014
Irving, Texas ----- Vince Buhagiar, a three-year starting linebacker for the San Jose State University football team, is one of 167 semifinalists for the 2014 Campbell Trophy recognizing college football's premier scholar-athlete. The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Football Hall of Fame made the announcement.
Buhagiar is one of the Spartans' nine players on the 2014 team with a bachelor's degree and enrolled in graduate school pursuing a master's degree in psychology. A three-time academic all-conference award winner, he was named a San Jose State University Dean's Scholar at the University's 2014 Honors Convocation.
On the field, Buhagiar currently ranks 21st among active Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players with 252 career tackles in 41 games played. He ranks second on the 2014 Spartans with 24 tackles. As a freshman, he was a third-team Freshman All-American by Phil Steele magazines. In 2012 as a junior, he was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection.
Besides selecting the 2014 Campbell Trophy recipient, the National Football Foundation will select up to 16 recipients for a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award scholarship valued at $18,000 to be applied to a postgraduate education. Award winners will be announced October 30 and the Campbell Trophy will be presented on December 9 at the National Football Foundation's annual awards dinner.
Named in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the award 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. A total distribution of $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, pushing the program's all-time distributions to more than $10.7 million.
"These 167 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "It is important for us to showcase their success on the football field, in the classroom and in the community. This year's semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders."