UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford has been named a semifinalist for the sixth annual Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award. The seminfinalist group consists of 20 of the nation's top leaders in college football.
Compiled by a subset of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Selection Committee, the semifinalists have all demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.
Sixteen seniors and four juniors make up the list. Among conferences, the Big Ten led the way with six selections, while the ACC had five. The SEC and Pac-12 had three each. The American Athletic had two semifinalists and the Big 12 had one selection.
In addition to Clifford, the list of semifinalists includes: Derick Hall (Auburn), Matthew Cindric (California), DeWayne Carter (Duke), Holton Ahlers (East Carolina), Dillon Gibbons (Florida State), Tailon Leitzsey (Illinois), Kaevon Merriweather (Iowa), Blake Corum (Michigan), Tanner Morgan (Minnesota), Austin Williams (Mississippi State), Xavier McDonald (Navy), Isaiah Moore (North Carolina State), Kamryn Babb (Ohio State), Brendon Evers (Oklahoma State), Alex Forsyth (Oregon), Deslin Alexandre (Pittsburgh), Hendon Hooker (Tennessee), Sam Hartman (Wake Forest) and Edefuan Ulofoshio (Washington).
Three finalists will be named for the award on Wednesday, December 14. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony in Frisco, Texas, on February 23, 2023.
The winner of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year will also receive a $10,000 contribution in his name to his school's athletic scholarship fund. The contribution will be made by Jason Witten's SCORE Foundation, the official charity of Jason and his wife Michelle. The SCORE Foundation, founded in 2007, has positively impacted tens of thousands of children and families in Texas and Tennessee over the last 15 years. The foundation operates its nationally-recognized SCOREkeepers program, which places trained male mentors on staff to work with children at family violence shelters, at nine shelters in the two states.
Clifford is in his fourth season as Penn State's starting signal caller, having played in 48 career games, making 43 starts. He joins Jonathan Sutherland as the only four-time team captains in program history. The redshirt senior currently sits as the all-time leader at Penn State in passing yards (10,023), passing touchdowns (79), completions (781), attempts (1,285) and completion percentage (.608).
Clifford presented a $15,000 donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre County. That contribution included a $10,000 gift from Allstate, thanks to Clifford's placement on their Good Works Team. Another $5,000 came from Clifford's personal NIL-related proceeds. Since Clifford arrived at Penn State, he has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters. In addition, Clifford started Limitless NIL. His new agency focuses on helping college athletes venture into the NIL space. As CEO, Clifford hopes to make a difference in the lives of his fellow athletes and for the next wave of recruits coming into this new-look NCAA.
No. 11/12 Penn State travels to Rutgers on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at SHI Stadium with a broadcast on Big ten Network.
The Nittany Lions return to Beaver Stadium next Saturday, November 26, to host Michigan State on Senior Day. Kickoff time and broadcast details are to be determined.
The 2022 Penn State football season is presented by PSECU.
