NOTE: Links to photos and video from the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas and this morning's press conference can all be found on NFF Media Central. Links to replays of the dinner and press conference may also be found there. Permission to use video footage is granted for "news purposes only" during the customary seven-day window, and the National Football Foundation should be credited for the footage if possible.
 
A replay of the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas can be watched on ESPN3 by clicking here.
 

LAS VEGAS (Dec. 6, 2022) – Bellagio Resort & Casino played host to an all-star cast of history's greatest football legends and the sport's most promising student-athletes during tonight's 64th National Football Foundation (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas.
 
More than 1,800 people in attendance and countless more watching on ESPN3 saw the induction of the star-studded 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class, which took center stage as its members received college football's ultimate honor. The NFF also honored 15 of the game's current-leading student-athletes, who collected $277,000 in postgraduate scholarships as members of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments®.
 
The festivities began with Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell being declared the recipient of the 33rd William V. Campbell Trophy® as college football's top scholar-athlete and receiving a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship. The evening culminated with the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame induction and a rousing speech from former Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck on behalf of the 2022 Class.

The 64th edition marked the second consecutive year the NFF Annual Awards Dinner was held in Las Vegas. Standout ESPN broadcaster Rece Davis, the host of the Emmy Award-winning "College GameDay Built by The Home Depot," entertained the crowd as the emcee for the annual celebration, which lived up to its historic role of bringing the college football community together at the end of the regular season to pay tribute to the game and its greatest legends. This year's dinner was especially momentous as the NFF celebrated its 75th anniversary.

The 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class was introduced by NFF Board Member Archie Griffin, a Hall of Fame running back from Ohio State, while NFF Chairman and Hall of Fame inductee Archie Manning (Mississippi) conducted the Official Hall of Fame Ring Ceremony.
 
The 2022 Class included LaVar Arrington (Penn State), Champ Bailey (Georgia), Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech), Sylvester Croom (Alabama), Mike Doss (Ohio State), Chuck Ealey (Toledo), Kevin Faulk (LSU), Moe Gardner (Illinois), Boomer Grigsby (Illinois State), Mike Hass (Oregon State), Marvin Jones (Florida State), Andrew Luck (Stanford), Mark Messner (Michigan), Terry Miller (Oklahoma State), the late Rashaan Salaam (Colorado), Dennis Thomas (Alcorn State), Zach Wiegert (Nebraska), Roy Williams (Oklahoma) and coaches John Luckhardt (Washington & Jefferson [PA], California [PA]), the late Billy Jack Murphy (Memphis) and Gary Pinkel (Toledo, Missouri).

The 18 players and three coaches bring the total number of players in the College Football Hall of Fame to 1,056 and the number of coaches to 226. Luck, a 2011 First Team All-American at Stanford who took home the Maxwell and Walter Camp awards while twice finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up, responded on behalf of the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class.
 
"I am thrilled to be here, and I am happy to see that we're honoring proper football etiquette by giving the microphone to the quarterback. Like anybody here needs to hear a quarterback talk any more than you already do," Luck said as he began his remarks before paying homage to the careers of his fellow 2022 inductees. "A sincere thanks to the NFF, Archie [Manning] and Steve [Hatchell], everybody, this is amazing and the Committee for recognizing all of us... I am the young pup in the group and am humbled and full of respect for my fellow inductees. There are so many here tonight who were heroes and role models of ours and who inspired us to play football and excel. On behalf of my fellow inductees, I thank all of you for that and for all you do-- and have done-- for our sport."

 

 
The 2022 Hall of Fame Class included 18 First Team All-Americans, three coaches, 10 unanimous First Team All-Americans, three consensus First Team All-Americans, eight multi-year First Team All-Americans, nine winners of college football major awards and three coaches with the most wins in school history.
 
The 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments® joined the Hall of Famers on stage. Comprised of 15 of the most talented and brightest football players in the nation, each member of the class received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and was a finalist for The William V. Campbell Trophy®. NFF Vice Chairwoman Kathleen Murphy led the presentation of the Scholar-Athlete Awards while NFF Vice Chairman Jack Ford had the honor of presenting the 33rd Campbell Trophy® to Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell. As the recipient of the trophy, Campbell's postgraduate scholarship increases to a total of $25,000.
 
"This award is the accumulation of doing a lot of little things correctly," said Campbell. "I did nothing big. I just showed up at class and was intent on trying to learn. I always tried to put other people first. And that's something I've just been raised with. So that's all my family. But I just so appreciate receiving this award."
 

 
Referred to as "extremely humble" and the "heartbeat" of Iowa's defense by head coach Kirk Ferentz, Campbell was a 2020-21 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. The three-time Dean's List honoree is on pace to graduate this December with a 3.49 GPA in enterprise leadership and a minor in sports and recreation management.
 
A finalist for the 2022 Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker, Campbell was named the Nagurski-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year. He finished the regular season ranked second in the Big Ten and tied for 10th in the FBS with 118 tackles, recording more than 100 tackles for the second straight season.
 
In 2021, Campbell earned Second Team All-America honors and was a First Team All-Big Ten honoree after guiding the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten West Division title and leading the nation with 143 tackles – the fifth-most in Iowa history for a single season. Having played in 50 career games, he ranks 19th in school history with 295 career tackles.
 
The star linebacker has led Iowa to three top 25 final rankings (No. 15 in 2019, No. 16 in 2020, No. 23 in 2021) as well as four-straight bowl games, including the upcoming TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 31, in Nashville against Kentucky. Off the field, Campbell has accumulated more than 70 hours of community service, and he is a three-year member of Iowa's Player Leadership Council.

The other members of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments included Anders Carlson (Auburn), Jake Chisholm (Dayton), Nicholas D'Ambrose (Chicago [IL]), Ryan Greenhagen (Fordham), Oso Ifesinachukwu (Yale), Ahofitu Maka (UTSA), Adrian Martinez (Kansas State), Peter Oliver (Holy Cross), Walter Rouse (Stanford), Austin Stidham (Troy), Julius Wilkerson (Wayne State [MI]), Austin Williams (Mississippi State), JR Woods (Johns Hopkins [MD]) and Michael Wozniak (Saint John's [MN]).
 
The NFF presented several other awards during the evening, including the 2022 Toner Award for excellence in athletics administration to Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart and the 2022 Schenkel Award for excellence in broadcasting to the Voice of the Indiana Hoosiers Don Fischer. NFF Legacy Awards for extraordinary contributions to the NFF and its mission were presented to Bob Bowlsby, the former Big 12 Conference Commissioner; Tom Burnett, the former Southland Conference Commissioner; Dr. Dennis Thomas, the former Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Commissioner; Craig Thompson, the outgoing Mountain West Conference Commissioner; and Bob Vecchione, the outgoing NACDA Chief Executive Officer.
 
Steve Hill, the CEO/President of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the event's presenting sponsor, provided the official welcome while the Invocation was done by Tyrone Jones, the lead pastor at Church for The City in Yuma, Arizona. America's beloved tenor and Annual Awards Dinner staple, Daniel Rodriguez, returned to sing "God Bless America."
 
The NFF also recognized the 2022 MEAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas. North Carolina Central quarterback Davius Richard and North Carolina Central defensive back Khalil Baker, the MEAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, were announced this morning at the NFF Annual Awards press conference by MEAC Commissioner Sonja O. Stills.
 
The five 2022 NFF Chapter Leadership Award recipients, one from each region of the country, were also recognized during the Dinner for their leadership at the local level: John Barbarotta (NFF DeSantis-McDougall/Fairfield County [CT] Chapter), Tony Cocca (NFF Lehigh Valley [PA] Chapter), Ken Leach (NFF Tom Lombardo/St. Louis Chapter), James Lofdahl (NFF San Fernando Valley [CA] Chapter) and Freddie Sandel (NFF Miss/Lou Chapter).

Earlier today, University of Arkansas Senior Associate Athletics Director Kevin Trainor moderated the NFF Annual Awards press conference. Streamed on ESPN3, the press conference featured insights from the 2022 College Football Hall of Fame Class and the announcement of the 2022 MEAC Players of the Year. Click here to watch a replay of the press conference.
 
Rafanelli Events, led by President Deborah Farley, served as the event coordinator for the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas. The Award Dinner was executive produced by Ariadne C. Villarreal of The A-Team Events Management. The videos featured in the program were produced by Dallas-based LDWW.
 
The NFF corporate partners, who all support the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, include Catapult Sports, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Jostens, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, New York Athletic Club, The Pasadena Tournament of Roses, Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and Sports Business Journal.
 
Other event sponsors and supporters for the event included Hanold Associates LLC, Hellas Construction, iSix, Las Vegas Raiders and Allegiant Stadium, Riddell, Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker LLP and Transportation Management Services.
 
"Tonight's 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas was spectacular," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. "Many people came together to support this year's event as we celebrated an outstanding group of honorees and celebrated the 75th anniversary of the National Football Foundation. I want to thank all of our corporate partners and sponsors, especially the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and CEO/President Steve Hill for serving as the event's presenting sponsor. Football transforms lives, opens doors and instills the characteristics in our young people that make our country great. When you listen to the accomplishments of tonight's honorees, you know that the Future For Football remains bright."
 
 
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 in 47 states, NFF programs include the selection and induction of members of the College Football Hall of Fame; the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta; Future For Football; The William V. Campbell Trophy®; the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments; the NFF National High School Academic Excellence Award; and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Jostens, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.