FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – Tennessee senior defensive end Kyle Phillips has been named to 2018 Wuerffel Trophy Watch List. The award honors college football’s top community servant.
The Wuerffel Trophy, known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service,” is presented annually at the All Sports Association’s Awards Banquet in Fort Walton Beach. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
Phillips played in all 12 games last year and started in seven at defensive end where he totaled 35 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, two PBUs and four quarterback hurries. He had a career high with six tackles in a road game at Alabama on October 2.
Phillips, who graduated with a degree in Recreation and Sport Management, owns a 3.42 GPA. He has volunteered in the community, taking part in the VOLeaders Academy’s 13-day study abroad trip to Vietnam where he and fellow Tennessee student-athletes learned about the nation’s culture and used sports as a means to enact positive change. On the trip, Phillips interacted with Vietnamese youth, worked with children in orphanages and volunteered at various sports skills camps. He also helped run the annual VOLeaders Sports Fest, an inclusive sports event for persons with disabilities. He visited and spoke with children at Bricky McCloud Elementary School. Phillips and teammate Drew Richmond provided food donations for the homeless in the Knoxville Area. He also participated in Kappa Kares, an initiative by his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, to promote women’s health by raising over 1,000 hygiene products for homeless women.
A current list of nominees can be found at www.wuerffeltrophy.org beginning on August 1. Semifinalists for the award will be announced on November 1 and finalists will be announced on November 19.
The formal announcement of the 2018 recipient will be made at the National Football Foundation’s press conference in New York City on December 4. The presentation of the 2018 Wuerffel Trophy will occur at the 50th All Sports Association Awards Banquet on February 15, 2019 in Fort Walton Beach.
Past winners of the award are: Rudy Niswanger (LSU, 2005); Joel Penton (Ohio State, 2006); Paul Smith (Tulsa, 2008); Tim Tebow (Florida, 2008); Tim Hiller (Western Michigan, 2009); Sam Acho (Texas, 2010); Barrett Jones (Alabama, 2011); Matt Barkley (USC, 2012); Gabe Ikard (Oklahoma, 2013); Deterrian Shackelford (Ole Miss, 2014); Ty Darlington (Oklahoma, 2015); Trevor Knight (Texas A&M, 2016); Courtney Love (Kentucky, 2017).
The Vols open the season at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 at the Belk College Kickoff against West Virginia in Charlotte, N.C., before hosting ETSU at 4 p.m. on Sept. 8 and UTEP at 12 p.m. on Sept. 15. Tennessee welcomes Florida to Neyland Stadium on Sept. 22 (kickoff is TBD) to start SEC play.
Tennessee football single game tickets are on sale now for six of the seven home games at allvols.com or by calling the 1-800-332-VOLS.
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