The winner of the 2017 Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award has been revealed.
On Wednesday night, during a ceremony at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler, which was emceed by Ron Franklin, legendary sports commentator and former voice of ESPN College Football, the committee declared Baker Mayfield the recipient of the award named after legendary high school, college and NFL star Earl Campbell.
Campbell graduated from John Tyler High School in before joining the Texas Longhorns under legendary Coach Darrell K. Royal.
During his senior year at UT, Campbell led the nation with 1,744 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, going on to win the Longhorns’ first Heisman Trophy.
He was subsequently drafted by the Houston Oilers, where he won Rookie of the Year honors in 1978 and went on to lead the NFL’s leading rusher three times. Campbell was named the NFL MVP in 1979 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. He now resides in Austin.
The award is given to the nation’s top college offensive player who either played high school or junior college football in Texas before moving on to a Division I university.
The selection committee is comprised of Texas-based journalists and college football dignitaries.
Back in December, the committee revealed the five finalists for the 5th annual award:
J.T. Barrett, QB – Ohio State (Rider HS)
A graduated, fifth-year player from Wichita Falls and Rider High School, Barrett has led the Buckeyes to an 11-2 season and a Big Ten championship game win over the No. 3-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, 27-21. Prior to Ohio State’s bowl game, Barrett threw for 2,939 yards and 35 touchdowns and added another 732 yards rushing and 10 more scores.
Ronald Jones, II, TB – USC (McKinney North HS)
In 2017 Jones ran for 1,486 yards on 242 carries (6.1 average per carry) with 18 touchdowns and also has caught 14 passes for 187 yards (13.4 average) with 1 touchdown, prior to USC’s bowl game. His 1,486 rushing yards in 2017 puts him 10th on USC’s season rushing list. This is the 30th time a Trojan has eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in a season.
Baker Mayfield, QB – Oklahoma (Lake Travis HS)
Mayfield, who is also won the Heisman Trophy, led the nation in completion percentage (.710), passing efficiency rating (203.8). This broke his own FBS record of 196.4 set last year, yards per pass attempt (11.8), yards per completion (16.6) and pass of plays of 20-plus yards (75). He also ranks second in passing touchdowns (41), third in total offense (357.7 ypg) and fourth in passing yards (333.8 per game).
Jarrett Stidham, QB – Auburn (Stephenville HS)
Stidham led the SEC and ranked nationally in completion percentage (.667, 218-327). He also ranked fifth in the league and 15th nationally in passing efficiency (154.0). Averaging 217.5 passing yards per game with 17 touchdown passes for the season, his longest completion was a 75-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Davis vs. Ole Miss. He was a second team all-SEC honoree and the Associated Press’ SEC newcomer of the year.
James Washington, WR – Oklahoma State (Stamford HS)
Washington will go down as one of the best and most productive receivers in Oklahoma State history and in the history of the Big 12 Conference. He entered OSU’s bowl game with 4,346 career receiving yards, a figure that lead all active FBS players and ranked third in Big 12 history. He led all active FBS players with 38 career receiving touchdowns and his career average of 85.2 receiving yards per game is the best among all receivers from Power Five conferences with a minimum of 2,000 career receiving yards.
Stidham and Jones were the only finalists in attendance. A representative for Barrett was also at the ceremony.
Previous finalists and winners are listed below (winner is designated by highlighting):
2013 Finalists
Jace Amaro, TE – Texas Tech (MacArthur HS)
Mike Evans , WR – Texas A&M (Ball HS)
James Franklin, QB – Missouri (Lake Dallas, HS)
Johnny Manziel, QB – Texas A&M (Tivy HS)
Bryce Petty, QB – Baylor (Midlothian HS)
2014 Finalists
Jay Ajayi, RB – Boise State (Frisco Liberty HS)
J. T. Barrett, QB – Ohio State (Rider HS)
Trevone Boykin, QB – TCU (West Mesquite HS)
Samaje Perine, RB – Oklahoma (Hendrickson HS)
Bryce Petty, QB – Baylor (Midlothian HS)
2015 Finalists
Trevone Boykin, QB – TCU (West Mesquite HS)
Corey Coleman, WR – Baylor (Pearce HS)
Josh Doctson, WR – TCU (Legacy HS)
Baker Mayfield, QB – Oklahoma (Lake Travis HS)
Greg Ward, Jr., QB – Houston (John Tyler HS)
2016 Finalists
D’Onta Foreman, RB – Texas (Texas City HS)
Jalen Hurts, QB – Alabama (Channelview HS)
Patrick Mahomes, II, QB – Texas Tech (Whitehouse HS)
Baker Mayfield, QB – Oklahoma (Lake Travis HS)
Dede Westbrook, WR – Oklahoma (Cameron Yoe HS)