Mr. Football Award (Kentucky) Explained

The Kentucky Mr. Football Award is an honor given to the top high school football player in the state of Kentucky and in the KHSAA. Awarded by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters from around the state's Associated Press, many past winners have proceeded to have successful college careers and even play in the National Football League (NFL).^[1]

Award winners

Year	Player	High School	College	NFL Draft	Ref.
1986	Frank Jacobs	Newport Central Catholic	Notre Dame
1987	Kurt Barber	Paducah Tilghman	USC	1992 NFL draft 2nd round, 42nd overall by the New York Jets
1988	Jeff Brohm	Trinity	Louisville
1989	Pookie Jones	Calloway County	Kentucky
1990	Damon Hood	Warren Central	Kentucky
1991	Scott Russell	Evarts^[2]	Lees-McRae Union
1992	Billy Jack Haskins	Paducah Tilghman	Kentucky Rhode Island
1993	Jeremy Simpson	Lincoln County	Cumberland (KY)
1994	Shaun Alexander	Boone County	Alabama	2000 NFL draft 1st round, 19th overall by the Seattle Seahawks
1995	Tim Couch	Leslie County	Kentucky	1999 NFL draft 1st round, 1st overall by the Cleveland Browns
1996	Derek Homer	Fort Knox	Kentucky
1997	Dennis Johnson	Harrodsburg	Kentucky	2002 NFL draft 3rd round, 98th overall by the Arizona Cardinals
1998	Jared Lorenzen	Highlands	Kentucky		^[3]
1999	Travis Atwell	Hancock County	Toledo Kentucky
2000	Montrell Jones	Male	Tennessee Louisville
2001	Jeffery Duggins	Boyle County	Alfred State
2002	Michael Bush	Male	Louisville	2007 NFL draft 4th round, 100th overall by the Oakland Raiders
2003	Brian Brohm	Trinity	Louisville	2008 NFL draft 2nd round, 56th overall by the Green Bay Packers
2004	Curtis Pulley	Hopkinsville	Kentucky Florida A&M
2005	Micah Johnson	Fort Campbell	Kentucky
2006	Douglas Beaumont	Male	Louisville
2007	Corey Robinson	Lone Oak^[4]	Troy
2008	Rolandan Finch	St. Xavier	Boston College
2009	Antonio Andrews	Fort Campbell	Western Kentucky
2010	Lamar Dawson	Boyle County	USC
2011	Patrick Towles	Highlands	Kentucky Boston College
2012	James Quick	Trinity	Louisville
2013	Nacarius Fant	Bowling Green	Western Kentucky
2014	Elijah Sindelar	Caldwell County	Purdue		^[5]
2015	Kash Daniel	Paintsville	Kentucky		^[6]
2016	Jamale Carothers	Bowling Green	Navy Western Kentucky		^[7]
2017	D'mauriae VanCleave	Danville	Wofford		^[8]
2018	Wan'Dale Robinson	Western Hills	Nebraska Kentucky	2022 NFL draft 2nd round, 43rd overall by the New York Giants	^[9]
2019	Michael Mayer	Covington Catholic	Notre Dame	2023 NFL draft 2nd round, 35th overall by the Las Vegas Raiders	^[10]
2020 (tie)	Cameron Hergott	Beechwood	Eastern Kentucky		^[11]
2020 (tie)	Jager Burton	Frederick Douglass	Kentucky		^[12]
2021	Isaac Dixon	Belfry	Kentucky
2022	Travis Egan	Bullitt East High School	Louisville		^[13]
2023	Daniel Thomas	Bell County High School	UVA Wise		^[14]

Schools with multiple winners

School	Number of Awards	Years
Trinity	3	1988, 2003, 2012
Male	3	2000, 2002, 2006
Bowling Green	2	2013, 2016
Highlands	2	1998, 2011
Boyle County	2	2001, 2010
Fort Campbell	2	2005, 2009
Paducah Tilghman	2	1987, 1992

Colleges with multiple winners

College	Number of Awards	Years
Kentucky	15	1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021
Louisville	7	1988, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2022
Notre Dame	2	1986, 2019
Western Kentucky	2	2009, 2013
Boston College	2	2008, 2011
USC	2	1987, 2010

See also

• List of Kentucky Mr. Basketball award winners

Notes and References

1. Web site: KFCA | Mr. Football .
2. Evarts was consolidated with two other schools into Harlan County High School in 2008.
3. Web site: Lorenzen is Mr. Football . Neil Schmidt . December 23, 1998 . The Cincinnati Enquirer . www.enquirer.com . December 18, 2013.
4. Consolidated into today's McCracken County High School as Mustangs on August 9, 2013.
5. Web site: Purdue recruit Elijah Sindelar honored as Kentucky's Mr. Football . January 3, 2015 . Indianapolis Star . www.indystar.com . January 5, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190914173523/https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/purdue/2015/01/03/purdue-recruit-elijah-sindelar-honored-kentuckys-mr-football/21232703/ . September 14, 2019 . live .
6. Web site: UK commitment Kash Daniel of Paintsville named Kentucky's Mr. Football . January 1, 2016 . Lexington Herald-Leader . www.kentucky.com . January 3, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160104170151/http://www.kentucky.com/sports/article52626170.html . January 4, 2016 . live .
7. Web site: UK commitment Bowling Green's Jamale Carothers named Kentucky's Mr. Football . January 26, 2017 . Lexington Herald-Leader . www.kentucky.com . January 26, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170313042809/http://www.kentucky.com/sports/high-school/prep-football/article128846319.html . March 13, 2017 . live .
8. Web site: Danville's VanCleave named Kentucky Mr. Football . January 25, 2018 . WKYT . www.wkyt.com . February 17, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180218091431/http://www.wkyt.com/content/sports/Danvilles-VanCleave-named-Kentucky-Mr-Football-471164433.html . February 18, 2018 . live .
9. Web site: UK signee WanDale Robinson wins inaugural coaches' Mr. Football award . December 2, 2018 . Lexington Herald-Leader . www.kentucky.com . April 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181203134329/https://www.kentucky.com/sports/high-school/prep-football/article222522560.html . December 3, 2018 . live .
10. Web site: Coaches name their Mr. Football and Coach of the Year for 2019 . 12 Dec 2019 . Lexington Herald-Leader . www.kentucky.com . 26 Apr 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200617000155/https://www.kentucky.com/sports/high-school/prep-football/article238308923.html . June 17, 2020 . live .
11. Web site: Douglass' Burton, Beechwood's Hergott share Mr. Football honor in a first for media award . 16 Apr 2021 . Lexington Herald Leader . www.kentucky.com . 12 Oct 2021 .
12. Web site: Douglass' Burton, Beechwood's Hergott share Mr. Football honor in a first for media award . 16 Apr 2021 . Lexington Herald Leader . www.kentucky.com . 12 Oct 2021 .
13. Web site: Bullitt East quarterback Travis Egan named Kentucky Mr. Football by KFCA. Courier Journal. December 14, 2022. January 11, 2023. Frakes, Jason.
14. Web site: Daniel Thomas, record-setting Bell County High School RB, named Kentucky's Mr. Football . Frakes, Jason. December 9, 2023. Courier Journal.