NFF Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University senior defensive lineman Michael Wozniak (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) was selected as one of the 15 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Each of the 15 finalists will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete Class. The finalists will travel to Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 6.

At the Dec. 6 event, one member of the class will be declared the winner of the 33rd William V. Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. 

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, members of the College Football Hall of Fame and athletics administrators.



Since 1995, 21 Johnnies have been nominated for the Campbell Trophy. SJU is the lone program out of the 672 NCAA schools to have nominated a Campbell Trophy scholar-athlete each of the past 20 seasons.

The 15 finalists were selected from the 156 semifinalists from all divisions of play, who were nominated by their schools as the best all-around student-athletes on their respective teams. Wozniak is one of three finalists from the NCAA Division III level, joining Chicago (Ill.) running back Nicholas D'Ambrose and Johns Hopkins (Md.) offensive lineman J.R. Woods. The other 12 finalists consist of one from NCAA Division II, four from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) and seven from the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Wozniak is the fourth Johnnie to be named a Campbell Trophy finalist and first since linebacker Carter Hanson '17 in 2016. Linebacker Matt Hawn '06 earned the honor in 2005 and wide receiver Chris Palmer '96 achieved the distinction in 1995. Hanson and Palmer also earned the Gagliardi Trophy as seniors.

An accounting major with a 3.86 GPA, Wozniak was selected to the 22-man, 2022 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team Sept. 19 and earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America first-team honors last fall. 

The three-time Academic All-MIAC honoree (minimum 3.5 GPA) was a 2022 Lindy's Preseason All-America and a 2021 D3football.com All-America first-team selection. Wozniak has 28 tackles (15 solo), including 10 for a loss and seven sacks, as well as two forced fumbles and four quarterback hurries in seven games this fall. Wozniak has 16.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks over his last nine games going back to last season, and 28 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks in 27 career games.

Wozniak started all 12 games and finished with a team-leading 15.5 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks, including 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in two NCAA playoff games, last fall. He totaled 30 tackles (20 solo), five quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. 

He returned to the field in 2021 after suffering a season-ending hand injury on the first defensive play of the 2019 season - a tackle for loss - at Wisconsin-Stout.

Off the field, Wozniak is in his fifth year raising money for a pair of SJU football's initiatives, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Tackle Cancer. He was also a member of the Johnnies' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which holds an annual Kids Fighting Hunger meal-packing event every March, for two academic years (2020-21 and 2021-22). Wozniak also helped organize a swim meet for local Special Olympians in Spring 2022 in Collegeville. 

Back home, Wozniak volunteered to coach 2nd- and 3rd-grade youth football for the Armstrong Cooper Youth Football Association.

No. 4 SJU (6-1, 4-1 MIAC, 2-0 Northwoods) travels to face St. Scholastica (2-5, 1-4 MIAC, 0-3 Northwoods) for a 1 p.m. kickoff this Saturday, Oct. 29, at Public Schools Stadium in Duluth.