Football | September 28

DeKALB, IL – Northern Illinois University redshirt-senior defense end Michael Kennedy (Chicago, Ill./Mount Carmel) has been named one of 156 semifinalists for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy®, as announced by the National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday. The award annually recognizes the top football scholar-athlete in the nation and is selected from across all divisions of college football.
 
Kennedy has been a part of the Huskies' two most recent Mid-American Conference Championships in 2018 and 2021. He leads all current NIU players with 13.5 tackles for loss and has six career quarterback sacks. In 44 career games, Kennedy has 86 tackles to go with two pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
 
The redshirt-senior is tied for the team lead in both tackles for loss and sacks through four games. Kennedy has 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Last Saturday Kennedy had a season-high five tackles and recorded his second sack of the season. He also had a sack at Tulsa on Sept. 10.
 
"This is a tremendous honor for Mike," said head coach Thomas Hammock. "He's playing his best football this season. I think there's a direct correlation between the work put in on the field and the classroom and Mike is a prime example of that."
 
Kennedy is one of six student-athletes from the MAC to be named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy. He graduated with his Bachelor's degree in Management in 2021 and is currently working towards his Master's in Business Administration. Kennedy was named to the 2021 Academic All-MAC Team.
 
Off the field, Kennedy has volunteered at Camp Power, a campus event for underprivileged children visiting campus during the summer. He has also participated in the City of DeKalb's Juneteenth Celebration and volunteered at the Spartan Food Pantry.
 
The NFF will announce its 12-14 finalists on Oct. 26, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The winner will be named on Dec. 6.
 
The Huskies open MAC play on Saturday, October 1 at Ball State in the Battle for the Bronze Stalk. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. CT with the game being broadcast on ESPN+.
 
--NIU--