Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football's Travis Nissley Attends National Football Foundation's Annual Awards Dinner
12/8/2010 7:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 8, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell football senior linebacker Travis Nissley (Mount Joy, Pa./Manheim Central) spent the last two days in New York City for events surrounding the National Football Foundation (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner. He was one of 16 NFF National Scholar-Athletes who were finalists for the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy, which was won by Sam Acho of Texas on Tuesday night.
The star-studded NFF Awards dinner also featured a keynote speech from Bill Cosby, winner of the organization's highest honor, the Gold Medal. Several other awards were presented and the 2010 College Football Hall of Fame Class was inducted.
"I'd like to thank the NFF for this honor; it's been great," said Nissley during Tuesday morning's press conference. "The experience so far has been amazing; these guys are awesome. There are a lot of people who have gone into any success I have generated -- my family and my friends, my coaches, my teammates and all the support at Bucknell, and even down through high school. I think the best part of being honored for an award like this is the sense of pride you can generate with those people, the people who have had such an impact on your life. It's just been a really amazing experience so far and I'm greatly honored to be recognized like this."
Nissley and his fellow NFF National Scholar-Athletes had a whirlwind 24 hours starting with Monday's arrival in New York City through last night's awards dinner. The group attended Monday night's performance of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular followed by dinner at Mickey Mantle's Restaurant. Tuesday featured the press conference, a photo session, a pre-dinner reception and then finally the Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.
The other 15 National Scholar-Athletes honored Tuesday were Acho; Anthony Castonzo (Boston College); Ben Chappell (Indiana); Alex Gross (Columbia); Owen Marecic (Stanford); Greg McElroy (Alabama); Mike Mohamed (California); Travis Nissley (Bucknell); Isaac Odim (Minnesota Duluth); Christian Ponder (Florida State); Derek Sherrod (Mississippi State); Nate Solder (Colorado); Chris Stewart (Notre Dame); Scott Tolzien (Wisconsin); Ben Wartman (Saint Thomas, Minn.); and Stefen Wisniewski (Penn State). Each National Scholar-Athlete earned an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship.
The 2010 College Football Hall of Fame Class inducted Tuesday includes the late Dennis Byrd (North Carolina State); Ronnie Caveness (Arkansas); Ray Childress (Texas A&M); Randy Cross (UCLA); Sam Cunningham (Southern California); Mark Herrmann (Purdue); Clarkston Hines (Duke); Desmond Howard (Michigan); Chet Moeller (Navy); Jerry Stovall (LSU); the late Pat Tillman (Arizona State); Alfred Williams (Colorado); and coaches Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin) and Gene Stallings (Texas A&M, Alabama).
In addition to the award won by Cosby, several other major honors were presented at the dinner including the Distinguished American Award to renowned journalist and author Tom Brokaw. The late Joe Kearney, a longtime athletics administrator, was posthumously presented with the NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award for his contributions to the game while former Rutgers Athletics Director Robert Mulcahy took home the John L. Toner Award for his superior administrative abilities as an athletics administrator. Rogers Redding, the recipient of the Outstanding Football Official Award, and Cal play-by-play man Joe Starkey, who won the Chris Schenkel Award, rounded out the 2010 NFF Major Awards honorees. Former NCAA Executive Vice President Tom Jernstedt was recognized with an NFF Legacy Award for his support of the NFF and its mission. A total distribution of $300,000 in scholarships was awarded.
A two-time Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Bucknell's 119th Academic All-American, Nissley owns a 3.96 grade-point average while majoring in mechanical engineering. He posted three perfect 4.0 GPAs in his first six semesters and has been a regular member of Bucknell's Dean's List and the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll during his time in Orange and Blue. He was also elected to Tau Beta Pi, a National Engineering Honor Society, was a recipient of the Charles F. White Memorial Prize for scholar-athletes and is a member of the Bucknell Classics Club. Additionally, Nissley has volunteered with Toys for Tots and the National Marrow Donor Program.
On the football field, Nissley, a team co-captain and a member of the Patriot League All-Academic Team, finished the 2010 campaign with a team-high 63 tackles, and his 256 career stops were most among current Bison. He also posted 2.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup. Nissley wrapped up his career with two double-figure tackle outings in his last four games, including a team-high 10 in the season finale at Holy Cross.
A three-year starter who played in all 44 games over the last four years, Nissley recorded a career-high 93 tackles as a junior to rank sixth in the Patriot League.
Nissley was Bucknell's second NFF National Scholar-Athlete, joining David Berardinelli, who was honored in 1992.
