Eric Kraus

National Football Foundation Release

Eric Kraus, a starting linebacker on The College of Wooster football team, is among the semifinalists for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, college football's premier scholar-athlete award, as announced by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame on Thursday.

The record-high 199 semifinalists cover all levels of play in the NCAA (FBS, FCS, Div. II, and Div. III) and NAIA, and that group will be narrowed down to 12-14 finalists in November. Each of the finalists will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. One of the finalists will be named the winner of the Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, and his postgraduate scholarship will be increased to $25,000.

Kraus, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, was voted to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® Team last year. He started all 10 games at linebacker and finished the year with 53 tackles, two shy of the team lead. Kraus tallied a career-high 11 tackles at Allegheny College, a week removed from a nine-tackle afternoon in a 16-14 win against Ohio Wesleyan University. Earlier in the 2019 season, Kraus logged nine tackles and a sack in Wooster's 24-10 win over Wabash College, in what marked the Scots' first win over the Little Giants since 2004.

In 2018, Kraus broke camp in the regular linebacker rotation and earned a pair of starts by season's end. The then-sophomore finished the year with 32 tackles and two fumble recoveries. He was instrumental in Wooster's 41-0 victory over Kenyon College, in what marked the College's first shutout since 2010. Kraus accumulated a season-high 10 stops and a fumble recovery against the Lords and went on to tally 13 tackles over the final two games of the season.

The two-time member of the North Coast Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll earned the College's John W. Chittum Prize in 2019, an award handed out by Wooster's chemistry department for being one of the most outstanding students in organic chemistry that year.

Elsewhere on campus, Kraus is co-president of Men Working for Change, a volunteer student organization comprised of male students who advocate against sexual assault and domestic violence. He's also part of the College's partnership with Wooster Community Hospital, where he serves as a health coach and is assigned patients in Wayne County to visit weekly and encourage them to live a healthier lifestyle and work towards their health goals.

Upon graduation, Kraus plans to attend medical school and specialize in infectious diseases.

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