NEW YORK (Dec. 8, 2015) – University of Oklahoma center Ty Darlington has been named the 26^th recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy, presented by Fidelity Investments and prominently displayed at its official home inside the New York Athletic Club, at the 58^th National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in New York City tonight.

“Ty Darlington’s exceptional accomplishments rank him among the best student-athletes in the history of our sport, making him the ideal Campbell Trophy recipient,” said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. “He truly embodies the NFF’s mission of building leaders through football, and we are proud to have him as a member of this elite fraternity. We look forward to watching the future unfold for this incredible young man.”

The Campbell Trophy is one of college football’s most sought after and competitive awards, recognizing an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership. The award comes with a 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship. A total of $223,000 was awarded tonight to Darlington and the 11 other members of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments, who comprised the list of Campbell Trophy finalists. Each member of the class claimed an $18,000 scholarship for their postgraduate educations.

“Ty and his fellow members of the 2015 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class represent more than just the standout athletic ability one sees on the field,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy winner) and Eli were NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “Their academic achievements and their contributions as leaders in the community send a powerful message about the young men who play our sport. They have taken full advantage of the educational opportunities created by college football, and they have created a compelling legacy for others to follow.”

The recipient of the 2015 1A FAR Academic Excellence Award, Darlington has been called “an athletics director in training” by Oklahoma Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione. He boasts an impressive academic resume as a two-time First-Team Academic All-American and two-time First Team Academic All-District selection. Darlington maintained a 3.91 GPA while earning a bachelor’s degree in arts & sciences in just 2.5 years. He graduated in December 2014 and is already working toward a master’s degree in higher education. His numerous Big 12 accolades include the Dr. Gerald Lage Award, the highest academic honor given to a student-athlete by the conference, a two-time First-Team Academic All-Big 12 selection and a six-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

The Apopka, Fla., native has played a key role in Oklahoma’s offense, leading the Sooners to the 2015 Big 12 Conference title. The team will play Clemson in the 2015 Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 31 in the College Football Playoff Semifinals after posting an 11-1 record in the regular season. Darlington leads a Sooners offense that is nationally-ranked in the top five in scoring and the top ten in total offense. Oklahoma had more than 500 yards of total offense in nine of its 12 games, and Darlington guided the Sooners to six games of more than 250 rushing yards and four games of more than 400 passing yards. He blocked for eight individual 100-yard rushing performances in 2015 while helping the team average 45.8 points per game and outscore opponents by 300 points.

In 2014, he anchored a Sooner offensive line that allowed just nine sacks in 386 passing attempts. Darlington was the lead blocker for running back Samaje Perine, who set the FBS single-game rushing record for yards in a game last season (427 vs. Kansas). The team captain blocked for four 200-plus-yard single-game rushers and five 100-yard single-game rushers in 2014. He helped the Sooners to an 8-5 record and an appearance in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl. During his junior campaign, Oklahoma led the Big 12 and ranked 12^th in the country in rushing offense (3,395). Darlington was also a member of the 2013 squad that finished 11-2 after a 45-31 win over Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The recipient of the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy, Darlington’s commitment to excellence extends to his work in the community service, represented by his receiving of the 2015 University of Oklahoma Letzeiser Award, one of the highest student awards at OU based on leadership, scholarship and service. He has served as president of the Big 12 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He led the Oklahoma’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter as its president for the last two years, participating in 10 to 15 speaking engagements per semester on behalf of the organization. Darlington twice visited Haiti as part of the Mission of Hope program, repairing damage caused by a massive earthquake. He also represented the Big 12 at the 2015 NCAA Convention and at the conference’s “State of College Athletics” Forum.

Following tonight’s Annual Awards Dinner, Darlington will receive several additional honors. On Wednesday, the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) will host a luncheon in his honor at the organization’s Hall of Fame Room. From there, he will head directly to Atlanta for Thursday’s ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show at the College Football Hall of Fame, where he will be interviewed live during the show. Finally, he will be honored on-field during the College Football Playoff National Championship in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 11.

Darlington becomes Oklahoma’s first Campbell Trophy winner and the school’s 10th NFF National Scholar-Athlete, following Gabe Ikard (2013), Carl Pendleton (2006), Renaldo Works (2003), Evan Gatewood (1986), Jay McKim (1980), Lee Roy Selmon (1975), Randy Hughes (1974), Joe Wylie (1972) and Jack Mildren (1971). He becomes the Big 12’s first Campbell Trophy recipient since 2010.

Launched in 1959, the NFF scholar-athlete program became the first initiative in history to award post graduate scholarships based on a player’s combined academic, athletic and community accomplishments, and the program has awarded $10.9 million to 816 top athletes since its inception. Candidates must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average 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 centerpiece to the NFF's scholar-athlete program, the Campbell Trophy was first awarded in 1990. It is 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. In 2011, Fidelity Investments became the first presenting sponsor of the organization’s prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards program and it became the presenting sponsor of the William V. Campbell Trophy at the start of the 2014 season.

The Past Recipients of the William V. Campbell Trophy

• Chris Howard (Air Force, 1990 - College President)
• Brad Culpepper (Florida, 1991 - Attorney)
• Jim Hansen (Colorado, 1992 - Leader in Climatology Research)
• Thomas Burns (Virginia, 1993 - Engineering Executive)
• Robert Zatechka (Nebraska, 1994 - Physician)
• Bobby Hoying (Ohio State, 1995 - Real Estate Executive)
• Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 1996 – Non-Profit Executive Director)
• Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1997 - NFL Player)
• Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia, 1998 - Insurance Executive and TV Broadcaster)
• Chad Pennington (Marshall, 1999 - Non-Profit President)
• Kyle Vanden Bosch (Nebraska, 2000 - Retired NFL Player)
• Joaquin Gonzalez (Miami [Fla.], 2001 - Corporate Executive)
• Brandon Roberts (Washington University in St. Louis [Mo.], 2002 - Physician)
• Craig Krenzel (Ohio State, 2003 - Insurance Executive)
• Michael Munoz (Tennessee, 2004 - Corporate Executive)
• Rudy Niswanger (Louisiana State University, 2005 - Corporate Executive)
• Brian Leonard (Rutgers University, 2006 - Retired NFL Player)
• Dallas Griffin (University of Texas, 2007 - Corporate Executive)
• Alex Mack (University of California, 2008 - NFL Player)
• Tim Tebow (University of Florida, 2009 - Non-Profit Chairman and TV Broadcaster)
• Sam Acho (University of Texas, 2010 - NFL Player)
• Andrew Rodriguez (United States Military Academy, 2011 - Second Lt., U.S. Army)
• Barrett Jones (University of Alabama, 2012 - NFL Player)
• John Urschel (Pennsylvania State University, 2013 - NFL Player)
• David Helton (Duke, 2014 - Financial Analyst)

The 2015 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award Class 
Presented by Fidelity Investments

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE	POSITION	SCHOOL	GPA	MAJOR
E.K. Binns	OG	Navy	3.43	Economics
Jacoby Boren	C	Ohio State	3.83	Sustainable Plant Systems
Jake Brendel	C	UCLA	3.43	Economics
Taveze Calhoun	DB	Mississippi State	3.51	Interdisciplinary Studies
Derek Crittenden	DE	Montana	4.00	Chemistry
Ty Darlington	C	Oklahoma	3.91	Arts & Sciences
Jordan Dobrich	LB	Nevada	3.85	Mechanical Engineering
Spencer Drango	OT	Baylor	3.71	Finance
Blake Frohnapfel	QB	Massachusetts	3.65	Finance/Economics
Jordan Italiano	S	Kent State	3.98	Biochemistry
Hank Spencer	LB	Mount Union (Ohio)	3.99	Computer Science
Jason Vander Laan	QB	Ferris State (Mich.)	3.77	App. Math & Actuarial Science

About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity's goal is to make financial expertise broadly accessible and effective in helping people live the lives they want. With assets under administration of $5.2 trillion, including managed assets of $2.1 trillion as of October 31, 2015, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 24 million people invest their own life savings, nearly 20,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing nearly 10,000 advisory firms with technology solutions to invest their own clients' money. Privately held for nearly 70 years, Fidelity employs 42,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about.

About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include FootballMatters.org, the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments, annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, New York Athletic Club, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, PrimeSport, SKP, the Sports Business Journal and Under Armour. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL AWARDS ASSOCIATION
The William V. Campbell Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 21 awards boast 678 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.