Football’s Kelly Named Semifinalist For Prestigious 2014 Campbell Trophy
TEMPE, Ariz. – Arizona State University redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly has been named a semifinalist for the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy®, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced Thursday.
Kelly is one of 62 Football Bowl Subdivision student-athletes and 167 total candidates selected as semifinalists for the award, which recognizes the top football scholar-athlete in the nation.
Kelly, a four-year letterwinner from Eagle, Idaho, earned 2013 Second Team All-Pac-12 recognition and is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Educational Studies in May 2014 and is currently enrolled in a Master’s of Legal Studies program focusing on Sports Law and Business that combines classes from the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law and the W.P. Carey School of Business. He was named to the conference’s All-Academic Second Team in 2013 and is a six-time Scholar Baller, which each semester honors student-athletes who achieve over a 3.0 GPA.
A team captain and a member of the team’s Leadership Council for the second consecutive season, Kelly is also a very active member of the university and the Phoenix Valley. He often speaks to numerous groups and classrooms about the importance of integrity, character and academics, and has been instrumental in influencing his teammates to become more involved in community service and outreach events.
Kelly was nominated to the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® in August for the second consecutive season which represents the sport’s finest in the areas of volunteerism and leadership. The award recognizes players whose charitable involvement and community service contributions stand out among all other student-athletes participating in the sport. Kelly is heavily involved in the Scholar Baller leadership and outreach program, where he helps develop curriculum, deliver, teach and mentor students at high schools around the community. He teaches life skills and discusses developing championship character, creating a strong sense of self and becoming a great leader, among other things.
Kelly has amassed 7,390 career passing yards, fourth in school history, and has 63 career touchdowns, fifth in ASU annals, in 30 career starts. His 75 total touchdowns, including 12 rushing, is the fourth-highest total among all ASU quarterbacks and he is just the second Sun Devil in school history to have multiple seasons with 3,000-plus passing yards. He has also tallied 1,316 career rushing yards, which is the second most of any quarterback in program history. He threw for 3,635 yards in 2013, the third most in a single season in school history, and moved into the top five on seven single-season school record lists, including passing yards, completions, total offense and points responsible for, among others.
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards 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.
The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients and the results will be announced on Oct. 30. Each member of the 2014 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and travel to New York City to be honored Dec. 9 during the 57th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria where one member of the class will also be announced live as the winner of the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments.
Launched in 1959, the NFF scholar-athlete program became the first initiative in history to award post-graduate scholarships based on both a player’s academic and athletic accomplishments, and it has recognized 787 outstanding individuals since its inception. The Campbell Trophy was first awarded in 1990.
Single-game tickets are on sale now for the Devils' third annual Maroon Monsoon game on Saturday, Oct. 18 against No. 16 Stanford at Sun Devil Stadium. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Sun Devil Athletic Ticket Office at 480-727-000 or by clicking here. Tickets to the Notre Dame game on Nov. 8 are available through the Gold Bundle and single-game ticket sales will be subject to availability. Click here to purchase.