The Draddy Trophy — which has been awarded since 1990, and whose winners include two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist and a Heisman winner — recognizes an individual for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership. The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 15 finalists on Oct. 25 — each will be recognized as part of the 2007 National Scholar-Athlete Class and receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship.
The Draddy winner, who will receive a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship, will be announced at the NFF’s Annual Awards Dinner Dec. 4 in New York City.
Rumph, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior from Bradenton, Fla., was an honorable mention All-America selection in 2006 and has twice been named second-team all-Northwest Region by Hansen’s Football Gazette. He has also earned first-team all-Gateway Football Conference honors each of the last two seasons, and was an honorable mention all-league choice as well as a member of the All-Newcomer Team following his freshman campaign.
Off the field, Rumph was voted first-team ESPN The Magazine academic all-district last fall and was a second-team academic all-district selection as a sophomore in ’05. Additionally, he was named to the GFC’s first-team All-Academic Team each of the last two years.
He has been the Hilltoppers’ leading tackler each of the last two seasons, posting 87 stops a year ago after recording a career-best 93 in 2005, while he was credited with 76 stops in his debut campaign. Rumph has recorded 10 or more stops on eight occasions in his three-plus years at WKU, pacing the team in 10 contests during that time. He has also intercepted six passes — including four as a freshman — while breaking up 10 others.
Schools were limited to one nominee each, who must be in their final year of eligibility, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
