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Simmons a Finalist for Football's 2013 Best Scholar-Athlete

The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Football Hall of Fame has named Duke's redshirt senior offensive tackle Perry Simmons one of 16 recipients of the 2013 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award.

The honorees also comprise the list of finalists for the 2013 William V. Campbell Trophy which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation. These award-winning athletes were selected from a nationwide pool of 171 exceptional semifinalists from among all NCAA divisions and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes (NAIA). 

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Simmons holds a 3.83 grade point average as a civil engineering major. He was a 2012 Capital One Academic All-America second team selection, has earned three All-ACC Academic Football Team honors, and four ACC Academic Honor Roll citations.

A native of Raleigh, Simmons has started an ACC-leading 45 consecutive games at right tackle and helped Duke achieve Blue Devils bowl eligibility for the second straight year for the first time in the school's history. 

Simmons becomes the fourth Duke player to earn the honor, joining Mike Diminick (1988), Bill Obremskey (1983) and Sean Renfree (2012).

''We are extremely proud to present the 2013 National Scholar-Athlete Class,'' said NFF President & CEO Steven J.Hatchell. ''With an average GPA of 3.79, these young men have a discernible and unrelenting commitment to excellence in the classroom as well as on the field. This class represents all that is right about college football, and the member serve as living examples of our mission to build leaders through football.''

The NFF's National Scholar-Athlete program, launched in 1959, is the first initiative in history to award scholar-athletes postgraduate scholarships for their combined athletic, academic and leadership abilities.

Each member of the 2013 National Scholar-Athlete Class will travel to New York City to be honored December 10 during the 56th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. They each receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and one member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the 24th recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation.

The recipient of the Campbell Trophy will also be honored the NFF Board of Directors meeting and at a reception hosted by the New York Athletic Club on Wednesday, December 11. Named in honor of Bill Campbell  (the chairman of Intuit, a former player and head coach at Columbia University, and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal), the award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and a $7,000 increase in post graduate funds for a total scholarship of $25,000.  

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale,  have  outstanding  football ability  as  a  first  team  player  and  have  demonstrated strong leadership and  citizenship.

See the complete story at GoDuke.com.