Three Atlantic Coast Conference football student-athletes earned national honors Thursday night at the 32nd annual The Home Depot College Football Awards.
Florida State offensive guard Dillan Gibbons won the 2022 Wuerffel Trophy for community service with leadership achievement on and off the field. North Carolina wide receiver Tylee Craft was recognized as the 2022 Disney Spirit Award winner as the most inspirational figure in college football. NC State's Christopher Dunn was named the 2022 Lou Groza Award as the nation's top place-kicker. Dunn is the ACC's all-time leader in field goals (93) and points (479).
FSU's Dillan Gibbons Wins Wuerffel Trophy
https://seminoles.com/dillan-gibbons-wins-wuerffel-trophy/
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons is the winner of the 2022 Wuerffel Trophy, it was announced Thursday evening live on ESPN’s
The Home Depot College Football Awards Show.
The Wuerffel Trophy, established in 2005 and named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel, is presented annually to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.
Gibbons is the first winner of college football’s premier award for community service from the ACC and only the second from a Florida school, joining 2008 winner Tim Tebow. Gibbons will be recognized during the Heisman Trophy festivities this weekend in New York City and will be officially presented his trophy in February at the All Sports Association Awards Banquet in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. (more)
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UNC's Tylee Craft Honored with Disney Spirit Award
https://goheels.com/news/2022/12/8/football-watch-tylee-craft-receive-the-disney-spirit-award-tonight-on-espn.aspx
Chapel Hill - University of North Carolina wide receiver Tylee Craft was recognized with the Disney Spirit Award on ESPN's College Football Awards. Craft was named the recipient of the 2022 Disney Spirit Award just eight months after nearly losing his life to lung cancer. Craft, 20, is now working to resume his playing career while also supporting other people going through similar medical struggles.
The Disney Spirit Award has been presented by Walt Disney World Resort every season since 1996 and seeks to honor the most inspirational figure in college football. Craft embodies the essence of the award after being diagnosed with stage 4 large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, a rare form of lung cancer, on March 14, 2022. According to his family, doctors said he was just weeks away from dying. He was struggling with back pain and it became debilitating, so UNC's athletic training staff took him to the hospital for more testing to determine the cause of the pain and that's when he was diagnosed. Doctors at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center immediately started Craft on an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. (more)
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NC State's Christopher Dunn Named Lou Groza Award Winner
https://gopack.com/news/2022/12/8/football-christopher-dunn-named-lou-groza-award-winner.aspx
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State's Christopher Dunn was named the winner of the 2022 Lou Groza Place-Kicker Award on Thursday night during the The Home Depot College Football Awards show on ESPN.
Dunn, who set new ACC records in points scored (479) and field goals (93) in 2022, leads the ACC and ranks second nationally in field goal percentage (.960). He also tops the league in kick scoring and field goals and tied for the national lead in field goals per game.
The Lexington native becomes the third national award winner under NC State football head coach Dave Doeren, joining Bradley Chubb (Nagurski & Hendricks Award, 2017) and Garrett Bradbury (Rimington Trophy, 2018). He is the second Groza Award winner in NC State football history joining Marc Primanti (1996). (more)