NEW YORK -- For the 10th-straight year, the National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame (NFF) has partnered with the Ivy League to co-host the 2019 Asa S. Bushnell Cup Presentation, presented by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses.
As part of the festivities surrounding the
62nd NFF Annual Awards Dinner presented by ETT, four Ivies will travel to New York City for the press conference and reception, honoring the Ivy League Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, on Monday, Dec. 9, at the Mercury Ballroom of the New York Hilton Midtown. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses returns for a sixth-consecutive year as the presenting sponsor of the event, which will be broadcast live on ESPN+, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Brown junior quarterback
EJ Perry (Andover, Mass.) and Yale senior quarterback
Kurt Rawlings (Bel Air, Md.) are the Offensive Player of the Year finalists, while Dartmouth senior linebacker
Jack Traynor (Lake Forest, Ill.) and Princeton junior linebacker
Jeremiah Tyler (Detroit, Mich.) are the Defensive Player of the Year finalists.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
A First Team All-Ivy selection, Perry set the Ivy League single-season record for total offense with 3,678 total yards in his first season in a Brown uniform. The junior was a backup quarterback at Boston College in 2017 and 2018, appearing in six games. Perry threw for 2,948 yards and 22 touchdowns—second in the Ivy League in both categories. He also tallied 730 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. The Andover, Mass., native, who led the FCS with 367.8 yards of total offense per game and ranked ninth with 18.0 points responsible for per game, led a Brown offense that ranked 15th in the FCS with 454.5 yards per game. Off the field, Perry is a business, entrepreneurship and organizations concentrator and a two-sport athlete, having recently joined the Brown men’s basketball team.
A three-time All-Ivy pick—including unanimous First Team honors in 2019—Rawlings rewrote the Yale record book during his senior campaign, setting career marks for passing attempts (926), completions (583), completion percentage (.630), passing touchdowns (59), yards of total offense (8,324), total touchdowns (71), passing yards (7,638) and passing efficiency (149.17). The quarterback was a two-time All-Ivy Honorable Mention selection in 2017 and 2018. Rawlings threw for a League-best 3,002 yards and 27 touchdowns. He also accumulated 314 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. The Bel Air, Md., product, who ranked third in the FCS with 21.2 points responsible for per game and fourth with 331.6 yards of total offense per game, led a Yale offensive unit that ranked sixth in the FCS with 38.7 points per game. In the classroom, Rawlings owns a 3.37 GPA as a global affairs major.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
A three-time unanimous First Team All-Ivy honoree, Traynor led Dartmouth and ranked third in the Ivy League with 75 tackles. The Lake Forest, Ill., native also added 4.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, a League-high two fumble recoveries and two interceptions—including a pick-six—during his senior campaign. The linebacker propelled a Dartmouth defensive unit that allowed just 12.40 points per game—second in the FCS for the second-straight season—and just 320.9 yards per game—14th in the FCS. Traynor, one of 13 two-time captains in Big Green program history, finishes his career with 270 tackles, 11th on the team’s all-time charts. In the classroom, Traynor is an engineering major that claims a 3.68 GPA. He is a two-time Academic All-Ivy and FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star selection.
A two-time All-Ivy selection, Tyler led the Ivy League and ranked 25th in the FCS with a career-best 14.5 tackles for loss. The linebacker was a Second Team All-Ivy pick in 2018. The Detroit, Mich., product totaled a career-high 62 tackles—eighth in the Ivy League, 3.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception during his junior season. Tyler was the heart of a Princeton defense that allowed just 18.10 points per game—eighth in the FCS. Off the field, Tyler is a sociology major with plans to attend law school.
Each of this year’s four Asa S. Bushnell Cup finalists were First Team All-Ivy selections, with Rawlings, Traynor and Tyler earning unanimous nods. Rawlings is 1-of-26 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, presented annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the FCS.
ASA S. BUSHNELL CUP HISTORY
Presented annually since 1970, The Asa S. Bushnell Cup honors its namesake, a 1921 Princeton alumnus and the commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference from 1938 to 1970. The Bushnell Cup is awarded by a vote of the Ivy League's eight head football coaches to the players who display outstanding qualities of leadership, competitive spirit, contribution to the team and accomplishments on the field.
From 1970 to 2010, the Bushnell Cup recognized an Ivy League Player of the Year (or co-Players of the Year if there was a tie in voting). Beginning with the 2010 season, the award was presented as part of the festivities surrounding the NFF Annual Awards Dinner with four finalists named a week prior to the presentation. Beginning with the 2011 season, the award began recognizing Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, honoring each as a recipient of the Bushnell Cup. Two offensive finalists and two defensive finalists are named, with the Players of the Year unveiled at the presentation.
All-Time Recipient List
1970 - Jim Chasey, QB, Dartmouth & Ed Marinaro, RB, Cornell
1971 - Ed Marinaro, RB, Cornell
1972 - Dick Jauron, RB, Yale
1973 - Jim Stoeckel, QB, Harvard
1974 - Walt Snickenberger, RB, Princeton
1975 - Doug Jackson, RB, Columbia
1976 - John Pagliaro, RB, Yale
1977 - John Pagliaro, RB, Yale
1978 - Buddy Teevens, QB, Dartmouth
1979 - Tim Tumpane, LB, Yale
1980 - Kevin Czinger, MG, Yale
1981 - Rich Diana, RB, Yale
1982 - John Witkowski, QB, Columbia
1983 - Derrick Harmon, RB, Cornell
1984 - Tim Chambers, DB, Penn
1985 - Tom Gilmore, DT, Penn
1986 - Rich Comizio, RB, Penn
1987 - Kelly Ryan, QB, Yale
1988 - Jason Garrett, QB, Princeton
1989 - Judd Garrett, RB, Princeton
1990 - Shon Page, RB, Dartmouth
1991 - Al Rosier, RB, Dartmouth
1992 - Jay Fiedler, QB, Dartmouth
1993 - Keith Elias, RB, Princeton
1994 - Pat Goodwillie, LB, Penn
1995 - Dave Patterson, LB, Princeton
1996 - Chad Levitt, RB, Cornell
1997 - Sean Morey, WR, Brown
1998 - Jim Finn, RB, Penn
1999 - James Perry, QB, Brown
2000 - Gavin Hoffman, QB, Penn
2001 - Carl Morris, WR, Harvard
2002 - Carl Morris, WR, Harvard
2003 - Mike Mitchell, QB, Penn
2004 - Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Harvard
2005 - Nick Hartigan, RB, Brown
2006 - Jeff Terrell, QB, Princeton
2007 - Mike McLeod, RB, Yale
2008 - Chris Pizzotti, QB, Harvard
2009 - Buddy Farnham, WR, Brown & Jake Lewko, LB, Penn
2010 - Gino Gordon, RB, Harvard & Nick Schwieger, RB, Dartmouth
2011 - Offensive Player of the Year: Jeff Mathews, QB, Cornell
Defensive Player of the Year: Josue Ortiz, DT, Harvard
2012 - Offensive Player of the Year: Colton Chapple, QB, Harvard
Defensive Player of the Year: Mike Catapano, DL, Princeton
2013 - Offensive Player of the Year: Quinn Epperly, QB, Princeton
Defensive Player of the Year: Zack Hodges, DE, Harvard
2014 - Offensive Player of the Year: Tyler Varga, RB, Yale
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Zack Hodges, DE, Harvard & Mike Zeuli, LB, Princeton
2015 - Offensive Player of the Year: Scott Hosch, QB, Harvard
Defensive Player of the Year: Tyler Drake, LB, Penn
2016 - Offensive Player of the Year: John Lovett, QB, Princeton
Defensive Player of the Year: Folarin Orimolade, LB, Dartmouth
2017 - Offensive Player of the Year: Chad Kanoff, QB, Princeton
Defensive Player of the Year: Matthew Oplinger, LB, Yale
2018 - Offensive Player of the Year: John Lovett, QB, Princeton
Defensive Player of the Year: Isiah Swann, DB, Dartmouth
Player of the Year Finalists
2010 - Trey Peacock, WR, Princeton & Billy Ragone, QB, Penn
2011 - Erik Rask, LB, Penn & Nick Schwieger, RB, Dartmouth
2012 - Jeff Mathews, QB, Cornell & AJ Cruz, DB, Brown
2013 - John Spooney, RB, Brown & Caraun Reid, DL, Princeton
2014 - Dalyn Williams, QB, Dartmouth
2015 - Will McNamara, LB, Dartmouth & Justin Watson, WR, Penn
2016 - Kurt Holuba, DL, Princeton & Justin Watson, WR, Penn
2017 - Richard Jarvis, DL, Brown; Nick Miller, LB, Penn & Justin Watson, WR, Penn
2018 - Stone Hart, DL, Harvard & Jesper Horsted, WR, Princeton
The evening following the Bushnell Cup Presentation, the NFF will stage its 62nd Annual Awards Dinner presented by ETT, also at the New York Hilton Midtown. As the culmination of the regular season, the event provides the stage for the induction of the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame Class presented by ETT; the presentation of the 2019 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Fidelity Investments; and the bestowing of the 30th NFF William V. Campbell Trophy® presented by Mazda, named for the former Columbia player and head coach, to the nation's top football scholar-athlete. The event will be
broadcast live on ESPN3, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Among the honorees will be Cornell senior defensive back
Jelani Taylor, who is 1-of-12 finalists for the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy®.
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses
The Tournament of Roses is a volunteer organization that hosts America’s New Year Celebration® with the Rose Parade® presented by Honda, the Rose Bowl Game® presented by Northwestern Mutual and a variety of accompanying events. 935 volunteer members of the association will drive the success of 131st Rose Parade themed “The Power of Hope,” on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, followed by the 106th Rose Bowl Game. For more information, visit www.tournamentofroses.com.
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include Football Matters®, the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, ETT, Fidelity Investments, Goodyear, Herff Jones, Mazda, the New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Sports Business Journal, Under Armour and VICIS. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.