Duke's David Helton - Lott IMPACT Award Nominee

It’s college football’s version of a high stakes scavenger hunt.

First player with the most trophies wins.

Marcus Mariota (Oregon) won the Heisman Trophy Saturday night, Alabama receiver Amari Cooper is this year’s recipient of the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s outstanding college receiver and Wisconsin's Melvin Cooper also won the Doak Walker as the nation’s top running back.

Mariota has also won four other awards - O’Brien, Maxwell, Walter Camp and Johnny Unitas Gold Arm, while Cooper is the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and Gordon the Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year.

But let’s look at Chattanooga native David Helton who is an All-ACC linebacker at Duke.

Envelope #1: Instructions - Drive to Charlotte, N.C. (from Durham) check in at the Marriott for the ACC Night of Legends Dinner.

Turns out, Helton, all state football player and state champion wrestler at Baylor School, receives the Jim Tatum Award presented to the ACC outstanding senior student-athlete.

Carrying a 3.64 grade point average with a major in psychology and a minor in theater, Helton is also a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Trophy #1

Envelope #2: Mon. Dec. 8 … Instructions - Fly to New York City … check in at the Waldorf Astoria and wait to be called for dinner. If you must, take a side trip to see all the great Christmas decorations and a "better not be in New York and not go to FAO Schwartz Toy Store trip" so as to be a kid again. Might want to leave the credit cards and check book in the hotel safe.

Tues Dec. 9 – At the National Football Foundation Awards dinner, Helton receives the Campbell Award which is the national academic version of the Heisman Trophy give given to the football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance. A $25,000 post graduate scholarship comes along with the trophy.

Note: The NFF dinner is the second oldest black tie gala dinner in the nation - in other words make sure you know what to do with all those forks and knives - work outside in is a safe bet.

"Eventually I would like to go to grad school for an MBA or law school, but first I want to take a shot at playing at the next level (NFL)," said Helton.

He has been highly successful on Friday’s and Saturday’s so who’se to say he can’t make it on Sunday afternoons.

Trophy #2

Wed. Dec. 10 fly to Orlando, Fla. To be interviewed on the ESPN College Football Awards Show

Envelope #3 Sat. Dec. 13 … Instructions - Fly to Los Angeles … check in at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach in Orange County.

Tonight (Dec. 14), he is one of four nominees for the Lott Impact Award presented to that student-athlete with outstanding personal character and athletic excellence.

IMPACT stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, Tenacity. Personal Character

Will it be Trophy #3?

And with nothing else to do Saturday night besides watching the Heisman Trophy Awards Show, Helton finished up his last final exam (via the web).

Recapping, this self-described former slow learner now holds the highest national academic award (Campbell), CoSIDA’s (Sports Information Dir.) most coveted award – Academic All-America and the Jim Tatum Award.

Learning to Change: “I was a slow learner in grade school and even middle school (OLPH and Boyd Buchanan before enrolling at Baylor) as it took me much longer to retain information and complete timed tests compared to many of my classmates,” said Helton. ‘But it high school, I knew I had to make a change and have worked hard at my academics.”

“I enjoy writing papers rather that rote memorization so Business Psychology has been my favorite as I have learned about business plans which is intriguing, but Statistics (lots of numbers) has been my toughest, yet a necessary course.”

Helping Others: While he has helped lead the Blue Devils to an 8-3 record and a spot in the Dec. 27th Sun Bowl against Arizona State in El Paso, he has also reached out to under privileged kids as well as to to Blair Holliday his former roommate who suffered brain injuries in a jet skiing accident two years ago.

“With the help of my uncle Tim Hennen (his mother’s brother), Helton sold t-shirts on campus and raised $45,000 to help defray medical expenses for

“At first, the doctors didn’t give Blair much of chance at a recovery but he has done well and is back in school.”

Wrestling and Football: “My days as a wrestler have been a tremendous help with my football career both mentally and physically,” Helton stated. “Wrestling teaches you how to defend your feet and how to use your hands to fend off the opposing players. As a linebacker, I look at football as a series of one-on-one plays and doing my best to take the ball carriers off his feet which is one of the goals as a wrestler.”

All in the Wrestling Family: The extended Helton family has seven state wrestling championships ... David has 3 ... Uncle Jimmy Hennen (Notre Dame) won his at heavyweight at the inaugural state tourney in 1961 and later played football at West Point ... Jimmy is the brother of Helton's mom, Mary ... two other uncles - Charlie and Lynn Goss - won state crowns for East Ridge in the 1960s ... Charlie at heavyweight in 1964 and Lynn in 1966 and 1967 and led the Pioneers to team titles those two years as well.

contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net