The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame has selected Rhodes senior PJ Settles as a semifinalist for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy®. The award, which includes a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship, recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation, and is considered by many to be the “Academic Heisman.”
Settles, who has made the Southern Athletic Association's Academic Honor Squad, also earned CoSida Academic All-District honors last year. The quarterback rushed for a school-record 16 touchdowns last year; was second among NCAA Div. III players, averaging 378 yards per game; set a new record for total offensive yards in a season (3,780;, and is a two-time All-SAA recipient. At Rhodes, Settles holds the following program records: single game and career passing yards, rushing yards, passing touchdowns, and rushing touchdowns. At this year’s Homecoming game, Settles became the first Rhodes player ever to achieve 10,000 career offensive yards.
Off the field, he works with Campus Outreach, Rhodes' faith-based athletic organization, and has volunteered at multiple organizations including the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, Memphis/Shelby Police Athletic League, the Special Olympics, and the Orleans Darkwa Football Camp. He also co-hosts the popular podcast Can’t Knock the Hustle, along with fellow Lynx footballer Bryce Hayes. Settles, a history major with an Africana Studies minor, hails from Nashville, where he attended Ensworth