Doak Walker Award

Doak Walker Award
Toby Gerhart's Doak Walker Award 1.JPG
Toby Gerhart's Doak Walker Award
Awarded forThe nation's top college football running back
CountryUnited States
Presented bySMU
History
First award1990
Most recentBijan Robinson, Texas
Websitesmu.edu/doakwalker

Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions from 1950 to 1955. The player is selected by the award's National Selection Committee, which consists of notable sportswriters, television commentators, analysts, radio sports personalities and former All-America and NFL All-Pro football players.

To qualify for the award, the following criteria must be met:

  • Candidate plays predominantly at the running back position and has made extraordinary contributions to his team.
  • Candidate is enrolled in a degree program, is in good academic standing and is on schedule to graduate.
  • Candidate holds a record of good citizenship within and beyond the athletic sphere.
  • Candidate has demonstrated a record of leadership.
  • Candidate exhibits the characteristics of sportsmanship and fair play associated with Doak Walker.

The award recipient receives a sculpture of Doak Walker, cast in bronze and mounted on a wooden base. It was created by artist Blair Buswell, who has sculpted the busts of more than a dozen inductees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Notable Accomplishments

Wisconsin running backs won four times in eight years from 2012 to 2019. Wisconsin and Texas are tied with the most wins with 5 a piece.

Ricky Williams (Texas - 1997, 1998), Darren McFadden (Arkansas - 2006, 2007) and Jonathan Taylor (Wisconsin - 2018, 2019) are the only three players to win the award more than once.

Winners

Made at least one Pro Bowl during career
Year Winner School Ref
1990 Greg Lewis Washington
1991 Trevor Cobb Rice
1992 Garrison Hearst Georgia
1993 Byron "Bam" Morris Texas Tech
1994 Rashaan Salaam Colorado
1995 Eddie George Ohio State
1996 Byron Hanspard Texas Tech (2)
1997 Ricky Williams Texas
1998
1999 Ron Dayne Wisconsin
2000 LaDainian Tomlinson TCU
2001 Luke Staley BYU
2002 Larry Johnson Penn State
2003 Chris Perry Michigan
2004 Cedric Benson Texas (3)
2005 Reggie Bush USC
2006 Darren McFadden Arkansas
2007
2008 Shonn Greene Iowa
2009 Toby Gerhart Stanford
2010 LaMichael James Oregon
2011 Trent Richardson Alabama
2012 Montee Ball Wisconsin (2)
2013 Andre Williams Boston College
2014 Melvin Gordon Wisconsin (3)
2015 Derrick Henry Alabama (2)
2016 D'Onta Foreman Texas (4)
2017 Bryce Love Stanford (2)
2018 Jonathan Taylor Wisconsin (5)
2019
2020 Najee Harris Alabama (3)
2021 Kenneth Walker III Michigan State
2022 Bijan Robinson Texas (5)

This page was last updated at 2023-06-12 12:02 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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