National Football Foundation

A trailblazer in his own right, Cornell’s Jeff Mathews has amassed a litany of firsts for the Big Red. The first-ever sophomore to win the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year now becomes the third NFF National Scholar-Athlete in school history.

A two-time Academic All-Ivy selection, Mathews has earned higher than a 3.0 GPA in every semester of his college career. The Dean’s List member graduated last spring with a degree in applied economics and management, and he earned a spot as a member of Cornell’s Red Key Athletic Honor Society.

Cornell’s first four-year starter at quarterback, first three-year captain, and first-ever sophomore captain, Mathews already owns more than two dozen career, season and game records for the Big Red. During his standout sophomore campaign, he was named a 2011 Second Team All-American, and he became the first sophomore to win the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year. That season he posted two of the top three passing games in conference history, including a 548-yard performance at Penn and two of the top four passing totals in the FCS for the 2011 season. Cornell’s all-time passing leader, he is a two-time All-Ivy League performer, two-time Bushnell Cup finalist, and he was the unanimous pick for Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2010. Mathews has thrown 66 touchdowns and passed for more than ten thousand yards in his career thus far, and he currently leads the Ivy League in passing yards per game (347.7) and touchdowns (16).

The Camarillo, Calif., native is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and he participated in a mission trip to help out disadvantaged youth with a group called Urban Promise. Mathews volunteers as a member of Big Red Readers and at events with Ithaca’s chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. He was signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2014 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons and appeared on the rosters of the Falcons, Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals. Mathews reunited with former Cornell head coach Kent Austin, a 1985 NFF National Scholar-Athlete, when he signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. He has thrown for 90 yards and rushed for 10 yards and two touchdowns in the 2015 season.