Release | Fan Vote

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University junior quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) was named one of the 13 semifinalists for the 2018 Gagliardi Trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III by Jostens and the J-Club of Saint John's University, on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

Announcement of the finalists for the 26th annual Gagliardi Trophy will be made the first week in December. Due to the change in championship site, the recipient's university will host an award presentation at a later date. Details will be handled at the time of the announcement.

The semifinalists include six quarterbacks, two defensive linemen, two linebackers, two running backs and a wide receiver/punter. The final 13 semifinalists were selected by the J-Club Board of Directors.  

Erdmann is the 13th Johnnie to be a Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist and the fifth quarterback. Three Johnnies – wide receiver Chris Palmer '96, wide receiver Blake Elliott '03 and linebacker Carter Hanson '17 – have won the Gagliardi Trophy.

The Gagliardi Trophy national-selection committee is comprised of 38 former small college football players, former Gagliardi Trophy recipients, business leaders, academicians and sports writers from around the country. Each casts a ballot ranking the 13 semifinalists. A fan vote, which will serve as the 41st committee member, is live on D3football.com and runs until early December.

The 2018 MIAC Most Valuable Player and a two-time All-MIAC first-team selection, Erdmann led SJU (11-0, 8-0 MIAC) to its MIAC-record 33rd conference title and 29th postseason appearance (25th in Division III) in 2018. He is currently second in NCAA Division III in both passing efficiency (201.2) and passing touchdowns (40), fourth in yards per pass attempt (10.41) and points responsible for (246), eighth in completion percentage (.672) and 11th in passing yards per completion (15.49). 

He is third in SJU history in career passing touchdowns (85), fifth in both pass completions (393) and passing yards (5,876), and sixth in pass attempts (617). Erdmann has seven games of four passing touchdowns or more in his career and a 24-4 career record as a starter. Erdmann set two single-game, school records this fall: passing yards (470 on Oct. 13 vs. St. Thomas) and passing touchdowns (7 on Nov. 10 vs. Thomas More).  

Erdmann was named to the 22-man Allstate AFCA Good Works Team in September and is a global business leadership major with a 3.33 GPA. He started teaching an ESL class one night (1.5 hours) per week this fall and volunteered with SJU's Kids Fighting Hunger meal-packing event each of the last three years. He also helped the SJU football team raise money for Tackle Cancer and the "Up Till Dawn" campaign, collecting donations for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the last two seasons.

Last winter, Erdmann participated in an 18-day (Jan. 25-Feb. 11) service trip to northern Thailand, where he worked with various organizations that fight child sex trafficking. He spent a week with Courageous Love, which is an organization that rescues victims of sex trafficking or children that are a high risk of being trafficked. During the week, Erdmann and others cleared and worked on new land to build new safe houses for the children. The group also built a playground and interacted with the children. He intends to replicate the trip again this winter. 

Erdmann also spent a day with Project Justice in an impoverished, mountain village. The village's children are frequently trafficked and/or use drugs. The group ended the service trip by spending five days with The Little Farm Thailand. Tasks included building fences and a goat house, gardening and chopping wood.

Erdmann spent 2017's spring break working at the Breaking Free House in the Twin Cities, which is a safe place for victims of sex trafficking and prostitution to recover from their experiences.

Closer to home, Erdmann ran a church youth group last summer and served as a residential assistant in a freshman dormitory during the 2017-18 academic year. 

He volunteered weekly at the Dream Center in St. Cloud during 2016's spring semester, serving meals and interacting with the men in the house. The Dream Center provides services for men, ages 18 and older, that need care, are struggling with mental health issues, chemical dependency issues, traumatic brain injury, learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

No. 3/5 SJU hosts No. 10/11 Whitworth of Washington (10-0 overall) in the second round of the NCAA playoffs at noon Saturday, Nov. 24, in Collegeville.