NFF National Scholar-Athletes
Chemical Engineering – 3.96 GPA
Head Coach: Jeff Monken | Athletics Director: Boo Corrigan
Faculty Athletics Representative: Holly West
Boasting a near-perfect GPA, Kenneth Brinson has successfully balanced academics and football alongside his military duties during four standout years at West Point. The Kennesaw, Georgia, native becomes the Black Knights’ 16th NFF National Scholar-Athlete.
A First Team Academic All-American in 2017, Brinson boasts a 3.96 GPA in chemical engineering and ranks 45th in his class of 1,078 cadets. He is a two-time recipient of one of West Point’s highest academic honors, the Distinguished Cadet Award, and a three-time recipient of the Superintendent’s Award for Academic Achievement. A member of the Dean’s List every semester of his collegiate career, Brinson was named Army’s 2016 Men’s Yearling of the Year. The two-time First Team Academic All-District selection graduates in May 2019 and hopes to attend medical school.
This season, Brinson has guided Army to bowl eligibility with a 9-2 record while posting 24 tackles and three sacks, including a season-high six tackles and two sacks in a key win over Hawai’i. For the second consecutive year, the Black Knights will retain the Commander in Chief's Trophy after defeating Air Force (as the worst all three academies can now do is win one game each). Brinson has been named one of six finalists for the Pop Warner National College Football Award. A game captain for the Black Knights, he boasts 126 career tackles and is tied for fifth all-time at Army with 11.5 career sacks.
A four-year starter, Brinson has been part of a football renaissance at Army. In 2017, he helped Army capture the coveted Commander in Chief’s Trophy for the first time in 21 years after beating Air Force and Navy. The past two seasons, he led the Black Knights to consecutive wins in the Army-Navy Game for the first time since the 1995 and 1996 seasons, including Army’s first win over Navy since 2001. Brinson also guided the team to consecutive postseason victories in the 2016 Heart of Dallas Bowl and the 2017 Armed Forces Bowl.
Off the field, Brinson serves as the point of contact for all Army football clinics. He also assists with the football team’s efforts to support local and national food banks while serving as a peer tutor on campus. A two-sport standout for the Black Knights, Brinson was the 2017 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for track and field, and he was the conference’s indoor champion for weight throw. He received a coveted NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Award in 2015.
He is currently pursuing an MD at Stanford School of Medicine. and a PhD in materials science and engineering at Stanford School of Engineering.
