Oklahoma WR Deion Burks Nominated for Another Prestigious College Football Award

Another Oklahoma player has landed on another college football watch list — this one for a prestigious honor that acknowledges contributions both on and off the field.

Wide receiver Deion Burks, who’s enjoying a breakout senior season with the rejuvenated Sooner offense, is a candidate for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.

Burks is among 67 players nominated for the ninth annual Witten Award, which goes to a player who “demonstrates a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.”

Oklahoma Sooners, Deion Burks — Oklahoma wide receiver Deion Burks | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

Burks, a 5-foot-9, 188-pound fifth-year senior from Inkster, MI, transferred to OU last year from Purdue.

His first year in Norman was disrupted, however, by a streak of unfortunate injuries that kept him out of action and limited him to just five games.

After catching 47 passes for 629 yards and seven touchdowns at Purdue in 2023, Burks was limited to just 31 receptions for 245 yards and three scores — all in the season opener — in 2024.

So far in 2025, Burks leads the Sooners with 23 catches. He’s third on the team with 265 receiving yards, and he’s tied for the team lead with two touchdown receptions.

Burks has been consistent so far this year, delivering seven catches for 88 yards and a touchdown against Illinois State, seven catches for 101 yards and TD against his home-state Michigan Wolverines, three catches for 36 yards at Temple, and last week hauled in six catches for 40 yards against Auburn.

Twenty Witten Award semifinalists will be selected by a subset of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Selection Committee and announced on Oct. 14. Three finalists will then be named for the award on Dec. 15. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at The Star in Frisco, TX, on April 16, 2026.

Last year, J.J. Weaver of Kentucky won the eighth annual award.

The first seven Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year awards were presented to Shaquem Griffin of UCF in 2017, D’Cota Dixon of Wisconsin in 2018, Trey Smith of Tennessee in 2019, Sam Ehlinger of Texas in 2020, Joshua Paschal of Kentucky in 2021, Deslin Alexandre of Pittsburgh in 2022 and Mike Hollins of Virginia in 2023.

The award, presented by Albertsons and Tom Thumb, is the first college football honor to focus primarily on a player’s leadership, both on and off the field.

Leadership is a term synonymous with Jason Witten, who, in addition to becoming one of the best tight ends in the history of the sport, served as one of football’s most prominent role models during his 16-year pro career. In addition to winning the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2012, Witten also received the Bart Starr Award, Pro Football Weekly’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP and the Bob Lilly Award, among many others. All of those honors have recognized his work in the community, achievements on the field and dedication to his teammates and family.

“It is an incredible honor to announce this group of young men as the watch list for the Collegiate Man of the Year,” Witten said in a press release. “These student-athletes have all demonstrated exceptional leadership, often in the face of adversity, and are perfect examples of what the sport of college football is all about.”

The winner of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year will also receive a $10,000 contribution in his name to his school’s athletic scholarship fund. The contribution will be made by Jason Witten’s SCORE Foundation, the official charity of Jason and his wife Michelle. The SCORE Foundation, founded in 2007, has positively impacted tens of thousands of children and families in Texas and Tennessee over the last 16 years. The foundation operates its nationally-recognized SCOREkeepers program, which places trained male mentors on staff to work with children at family violence shelters, at nine shelters in the two states.