COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football senior TE Sean Culkin (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla.) is one of 65 players from college football’s Bowl Subdivision to be named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, as announced Wednesday by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. The award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation and is prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club.

Named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, former chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF’s Gold Medal, the Campbell Trophy is a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient’s grant by $7,000 for a total postgraduate scholarship of $25,000. This year’s postgraduate scholarships will push the program’s all-time distribution to more than $11.1 million.

Culkin is nominated for the award as a business administration major who is playing with his degree after graduating in the spring of 2016. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in education, counseling & psychology. He is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and has devoted his time to various different organizations in the Mid-Missouri community. He has worked with the Special Olympics, local children’s camps and has visited children in the hospital. His Mission work was recognized by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey during SEC Media Days as well, where Culkin was one of Mizzou’s three participants in July.

“The NFF would like to personally congratulate each of the nominees as well as their schools and coaches on their tremendous accomplishments,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist’s achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates.”

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA 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 class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has received a gift totaling $1.675 million, as announced Wednesday.  The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has directed $1 million of the gift to go toward the new football facility in the south end zone at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field, with the remaining amount to be used for other Athletics initiatives.

This gift comes on the heels of a recent gift announcement which rejuvenated the push for new football facilities.  Specific details and scope of the campaign and project will be unveiled at a later date, after plans are approved and finalized.

“We are so grateful for this very generous gift,” said Director of Athletics Jim Sterk.  “It is critical to keep momentum building with our drive for new facilities, and this is exactly the shot in the arm we need to keep that moving forward.  Our donor is really pleased to be involved in helping us transform our facilities, and is excited about the future of our football program,” he said.

“I’m very excited about this gift, it’s another very important step in this process,” said Head Football Coach Barry Odom.  “Our donors are amazing with the passion they have for Mizzou and for our program.  This is the type of support we need to keep things rolling, and I can’t thank our donor enough for their generosity,” he said.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Football junior WR J’Mon Moore (Missouri City, Texas) is one of eight wideouts added to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, announced Tuesday by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation. The Biletnikoff Award is presented to college football’s outstanding receiver annually. Moore certainly fits that description after the first four weeks of play as his 434 yards and six touchdowns lead the SEC, ranking in the top-10 nationally in both.

Enjoying a breakout junior campaign, Moore has tallied an SEC-best three 100-yard receiving games so far this season, highlighted by a league-best 196 yards and two scores against Georgia in Mizzou’s SEC opener. The 196 yards in that game are the ninth-best in school history. One week removed from that performance, Moore tied the school record with four touchdown grabs in Mizzou’s 79-0 win over Delaware State, also going over 100 yards in that game, needing just one half to put those numbers up.

The 2016 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented live on December 8, 2016, on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show to be broadcast 7:00 – 9:00pm (EST) on ESPN. College Football Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard will present the 2016 Biletnikoff Award winner on the show.

The Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc., will announce the ten Biletnikoff Award semifinalists on November 14, 2016, following the vote by the members of the Biletnikoff Award National Selection Committee. Likewise, the three finalists will be declared, following another vote, on November 22, 2016. For complete details and updates of interest, together with weekly statistics and timely, important news of the Biletnikoff Award candidates, as well as the FanVote and FanForum discussion board, please consult the Foundation’s highly informative website at www.biletnikoffaward.com.

— Mizzou Athletics —