Past Winners

Premier Players hosted its first charitable awards dinner in January 2011 with a simple but powerful idea: give sports fans a voice in recognizing the players they believe deserve to be celebrated.

That inaugural vote produced a memorable finish. The late Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett narrowly edged Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi to become the first recipient of the Premier Player of College Football Award.

Over the years, people have asked one question about that first award: What about Cam Newton?

The answer represents what makes Premier Players different: we didn’t choose the winner. The fans did.

Premier Players online elections are 100% fan-driven. We identify outstanding candidates and give fans the opportunity to follow the competition, cast their votes, rally behind their favorite players, and ultimately determine who takes home the 23-pound Premier Player Trophy.

What began with college football has continued to grow. Premier Players has expanded into additional sports, creating new opportunities for fans to recognize exceptional athletes each season. But our vision extends far beyond online voting.

In 2018, we took the next step with our first on-field competition, Premier Players of Soccer, giving athletes the opportunity to compete directly for the Premier Player Award.

And we’re just getting started.

Our vision is to continue introducing new polls, sports, tournaments, and competitions – creating opportunities for athletes from middle school through adulthood to earn the same recognition. Some Premier Players will be chosen by thousands of fans. Others will earn the title by stepping onto the field and competing for it.

Take a look at our past award winners. You may see some of your favorite players among them. And if your favorite isn’t there, there’s always another season.

Vote. Rally your friends. Campaign for your player. Make your voice count.

Because at Premier Players, we don’t decide who get the award -you do!

Our Past Winners In 2012, North Carolina State TE Asa Watson (second front left) became the first recipient of the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award and Memphis LB Akeem Davis, second from right, became the first recipient of the Lee Roy Selmon Community Spirit Award.

Our Past Winners Jake Lemoine, P, helped The Houston Cougars to a No. 11 national ranking and notch one of the best seasons in its program history, tying a program-record with 48 wins and earning its first trip to the NCAA postseason since 2008.

Our Past Winners 2013 Big Ten Player of The Year, Maggie Lucas, G, lead the Penn State Lady Lions to an undefeated season at home and an overall 26-6 season.

Ryan Mallett Premier Players Trophy web 2A small Football, or any sport, would not bring excitement to millions of people each year if it wasn’t for the fans. Yet, when it came to determining the best players in the country, the fans were mostly left out of the selection process – until now.

The Premier Player Trophy is an award presented to the athlete the fans voted as the best player in NCAA college football, basketball, baseball, softball, and hockey. A poll is released at the beginning of the college sports season with 20 of the best players for fans to follow. In mid-October to early November, up to five more great performing players may be added to the poll while nonperformers are deleted from the poll. Fans then have until the last conference championship game to vote the Premier Player of the season.

Here’s what one of the best in pro and college football, the late Lee Roy Selmon, had to say https://youtu.be/7jLk-p0SGAI?t=58s about our award.

Below is the Making of The Premier Player Trophy video:

Short interviews with College & NFL HOF Lee Roy Selmon, first award recipient Ryan Mallett, and Carnell Moore, founder of The Premier Players Sports Foundation: