Credit to: iuhoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Burlsworth Trophy selection committee announced Indiana defensive lineman James Carpenter as one of three finalists for the 2024 award that honors the most outstanding football player in America that began his career as a walk-on. This marks the second-straight year that Carpenter has been selected a finalist, as he was one of three to travel to Bentonville, Arkansas, for the banquet in 2023 while at James Madison.
Carpenter has started all 10 games with 431 snaps played on the defensive interior. He owns 25 tackles on the season with 8.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. The interior rusher ranks No. 2 on team in tackles for loss and sacks with at least 0.5 TFL in six of 10 games. All four of his sacks are solo and he is the No. 6-ranked pass rusher among defensive interior linemen in FBS (min. 400 snaps). While Indiana doesn’t have season-long captains, Carpenter has served as game captain in all 10 games of 2024.
The Roanoke, Virginia, native has logged at least three tackles in eight of 10 games this season with three multi-TFL games and a multi-sack effort against Maryland.
Carpenter joins Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher and Buffalo linebacker Shaun Dolac as finalists for the award, which will be presented on Dec. 9, 2024, at 8:00pm EST at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The trophy’s namesake, Brandon Burlsworth, arrived on the Arkansas campus in 1994, with no money, no famous last name, and absolutely no Division 1 scholarship offers. Through his unbelievable work ethic and ceaseless determination, Brandon not only earned a scholarship, but became team captain, All-SEC 1997-1998, First Team All-SEC 1998, Football News First Team All-American in 1998, and the first All-American from the University of Arkansas in a decade. His success was not limited to the gridiron. He was also named to the All-SEC Academic Honor Roll every year from 1995-1998, and was the first football player in the entire history of his university to earn a Masters degree “before” playing his last game.
Brandon was selected by the Indianapolis Colts as the 63rd overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft. After minicamp, he was projected by his coaches to start as a rookie. Unfortunately, Brandon was tragically killed in a head-on automobile collision just 11 days after the draft.
In 1999, the University of Arkansas created a scholarship endowment in Brandon’s name. Eighteen $5,000 academic scholarships, and one $10,000 Walk-On athletic scholarship are given out each year. The Brandon Burlsworth Foundation is also engaged in various charitable endeavors including the provision of free eye-care to thousands of underprivileged children.
In 2010, the Burlsworth Trophy was created to honor the achievements and successes of the Walk-On athlete. It is presented annually to the Most Outstanding player who began his career as a Walk-On.
For more information about the Burlsworth Trophy, visit burlsworthtrophy.com.
