Ryan McManus Chosen as Semifinalist for Campbell Trophy

HANOVER, N.H. — The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) today announced the 135 semifinalists for the 2015 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments, and Dartmouth senior Ryan McManus was among those chosen.

McManus, a native of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, is one of the top wide receivers in Dartmouth football's 134-year history, ranking among the top 10 all-time in both receptions (125) and receiving yards (1,670) entering his final season. Just the second player in Dartmouth history to earn first-team All-Ivy League honors at two positions in one season (wide receiver and return specialist last year), he was an FCS Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star and Academic All-Ivy selection in 2014 as well. McManus, one of the team captains this season, is a history major with a 3.40 GPA.

The 135 semifinalists will be narrowed to 15 finalists on Oct. 29, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. The finalists will travel to New York City on Dec. 8 for the 58th NFF Annual Awards Dinner where one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 26th Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

“These 135 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.”

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 Campbell Trophy is a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient's grant by $7,000 for a total postgraduate scholarship of $25,000. A total distribution of more than $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, pushing the program's all-time distribution to more than $11 million.

Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program became the first initiative in history to award postgraduate scholarships based on both a player's academic and athletic accomplishments, and it has recognized 804 individuals since its inception. The Campbell Trophy, first awarded in 1990, has previously honored two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and five first-round NFL draft picks.

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