ECU's Sirk named Campbell Trophy semifinalist

IRVING, Texas – ECU quarterback Thomas Sirk has been named a semifinalist for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced Wednesday morning.

The trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.

Sirk, who earned both bachelor’s (political science) and master’s (liberal studies) degrees from Duke in 2016 and 2017, respectively, was a 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree and a two-time member of the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic Team. Following graduation in May, Sirk officially enrolled at ECU during the first summer semester and is currently working towards his certification in sport management (kinesiology).

As a Pirate, Sirk has started two of three games and completed 67-of-108 passes for 827 yards and four touchdowns. In the American Athletic Conference opener against Connecticut last Sunday, he threw for a personal-best 426 yards and three scores, connecting on 30-of-39 passes to help ECU to a 41-38 road win and earning AAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors.

During his career, Sirk has completed 59.7 percent of his passes (328-of-549) for 3,519 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding 1,113 yards on the ground with 16 scores. He was named Co-MVP of the 2015 New Era Pinstripe Bowl after passing for 164 yards with one touchdown and rushing for a team-high 153 yards and two more scores to lead Duke to a 44-41 overtime victory over Indiana at Yankee Stadium.

Sirk has devoted countless of volunteer hours helping numerous organizations in both the Durham and Greenville communities, including Habitat for Humanity, Kid’s Club in Oxford Manor, Duke Children’s Hospital, Camp Kaleidoscope, Big Brother Program, Christmas Gift Wrap, Durham Rescue Mission and the Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital.

The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Nov. 1, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 28th 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 playing 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, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.