Jackson Named to Wuerffel Trophy Watch List
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Miami Hurricanes redshirt senior defensive lineman Demetrius Jackson was among those players selected to the watch list for the 2018 Wuerffel Trophy Thursday.
The Wuerffel Trophy, known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service,” is presented annually at the All Sports Association’s Awards Banquet in Fort Walton Beach. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
Jackson finished with 18 total tackles, including 7.5 for losses and 3.5 sacks, before suffering a season-ending injury seven games into the 2017. Jackson, the Hurricanes’ Community Service Man of the Year for the past two seasons, works with children at the local Boys & Girls Club of Miami, mentors young men in his neighborhood of Overtown and has organized a turkey drive during Thanksgiving for members of his community, among other initiatives.
Jackson joins senior Tyler Gauthier, who was named to the watch list for the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) and Rimington Trophy (best center), junior Travis Homer, who was named to the watch list for both the Maxwell Award (college football’s player of the year) and the Doak Walker Award (top running back), senior defensive back Michael Jackson (Thorpe Award as nation’s top defensive back, Nagurski Award as college football’s defensive player of the year), senior safety Jaquan Johnson (Nagurski, Thorpe and Bednarik Award as top defensive player), junior linebacker Shaq Quarterman (Bednarik, Nagurski, Butkus Award as nation’s top linebacker) and junior Ahmmon Richards (Maxwell Award and Biletnikoff Award as nation’s best receiver) as preseason honorees.
The watch list for the Wuerffel Trophy represents the 11th watch list to include at least one Hurricane student-athlete this preseason.
Nominations for the Wuerffel Trophy are made by the respective universities’ Sports Information Department and will close on October 12. A current list of nominees can be found at www.wuerffeltrophy.org beginning on August 1. Semifinalists for the award will be announced on November 1 and finalists will be announced on November 19.
The formal announcement of the 2018 recipient will be made at the National Football Foundation’s press conference in New York City on December 4. The presentation of the 2018 Wuerffel Trophy will occur at the 50th All Sports Association Awards Banquet on February 15, 2019 in Fort Walton Beach.
The Wuerffel Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 24 awards boast more than 800 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.ncfaa.org to learn more about our story.
