Five distinguished scholar-athletes will be selected from 36 finalists and honored at the NFF Annual Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, in New York City on Dec. 9.

 

     IRVING, Texas– The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) has announced the names of the 36 finalists for the 2014 NFF High School National Scholar-Athlete Awards, including one North Carolinian. 

     The award will honor one young man from each of the country’s five regions as the best and the brightest for their accomplishments as athletes, scholars and citizens at the high school level. The five winners, who are now playing college football, are being recognized for their previous accomplishments in high school, will be announced the week of Oct. 9.

     Antwuan Elliott, a graduate of Sanderson High School in Raleigh, is one of the finalists. He was  nominated by the NFFCHOF Bill Dooley Chapter and is currently playing at Campbell University.

     Elliott was a two-year captain at Sanderson and was Most Valuable Player for the Spartans his senior year.  He also earned academic all-conference in football and was an outstanding wrestler.

     “The NFF Chapter Network continues to grow and excel, and their work this year has allowed us to identify these exceptional 36 scholar-athletes who have clearly established themselves among the best in the nation,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “It will be a difficult task to select one from each region as the absolute best. Each possesses incredible talent in all facets of their lives, and it is a tremendous honor for us to highlight their accomplishments.”

     With 120 chapters and more than 12,000 members, the NFF Chapter Network impacts more than 500,000 student-athletes at 4,800 high schools in 47 states each year. The centerpiece of their efforts are the annual chapter awards banquets, which recognize more than 3,500 of the nation’s top scholar-athletes and distribute more than $1 million in scholarships. From this pool of 3,500 scholar-athletes, the chapters have nominated 36 individuals in 2014 as finalists for the highly sought-after NFF High School National Scholar-Athlete Awards. During the week of Oct. 9, a national committee will select and announce the five winners, one from each region.

     The five winners will travel to New York City to be honored during the NFF Chapter Awards Luncheon, presented by Under Armour, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. First bestowed in 1991, the NFF National High School Scholar-Athlete Awards have become one of the most prestigious high school honors in the country. Criteria for the award include but are not limited to academic achievement, athletic accolades and community involvement.