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Cal Center Mike Saffell Named Campbell Trophy Semifinalist

The award, known as the Academic Heisman, was won by Cal center Alex Mack in 2008
Jake Curtis|
Cal Center Mike Saffell Named Campbell Trophy Semifinalist
Cal Center Mike Saffell Named Campbell Trophy Semifinalist

Cal center Mike Saffell on Thurday was named one 199 semifinalists for the William V. Cambell Trophy, often called the Academic Heisman.

The award, which is presented by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, is based on academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. 

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert won the 2019 Campbell Trophy.

This is the 31st year of the award, and if Saffell wins he would be the second Cal player to win the Campbell Trophy. Another Cal center, Alex Mack, won the award in 2008. Mack is now the Atlanta Falcons' starting center.

Here is an interview Saffell conducted in August with Cal chancellor Carol Christ:

Saffell is on track to graduate from Cal with a bachelor's degree in business administration in only three-and-a-half years in December of 2020.

He was a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection as a sophomore and a member of the league's inaugural Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll that replaced its Pac-12 All-Academic teams as a junior.

Saffell and fellow offensive lineman Henry Bazakas have taken over as the ambassadors for the Patrick Laird Summer Reading Challenge.

(Saffell talks about his hectic spring in this story.)

The past two years Saffell was named to the Wuerffell watch list for community service, academics and athletics.

He will be the Golden Bears' starting center for a third consecutive season when Cal starts its football season on the weekend of Nov. 6-7.

He was named a preseason third-team All-Pac-12 selection for 2020 by Athlon magazine.

 

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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