At the Double! John Metchie III is a back to back Cornish Trophy winner
John Metchie III has been named the winner of the Cornish Trophy for the 2021 NCAA football season. He was selected as the standout player from a final list of five athletes.
His name will be the third to be engraved on the trophy in its’ first five years of existence. That is beacause Metchie has the double delight of being named a back to back Cornish Trophy winner.
Which puts him alongside Nathan Rourke, former QB of the Ohio Bobcats who won it in both 2017 & 2018. Sandwiched between each two time winner was Oklahoma State RB Chuba Hubbard who collected the award for the 2019 season.
Rourke would later be drafted by the BC Lions in the 2020 CFL Draft. Hubbard was subsequently drafted by the Carolina Panthers and as a risky ‘futures pick‘ by the Calgary Stampeders. Metchie seems certain to be selected by an NFL franchise. But I would not be surprised to see a CFL team risk a futures pick on him too.
Wait, what’s the Cornish Trophy?
You can read in more details about the trophy here. But the basics are simple. It is an award given out annually to the student athlete who has been the most outstanding Canadian player in NCAA Football.
Details of the selection process this time around were not released. We do know however that Metchie is the first unanimous selection as winner in the short history of the trophy.
At the Double! Metchie III is a deserving winner
Metchie is a deserving double winner of the Cornish Trophy having improved on the numbers he put up when he won the award last year.
In his final season with the Crimson Tide, Metchie recorded a team-high 96 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns. The 96 receptions were the third-most in Crimson Tide single-season history.
Metchie started out as a true freshman at Alabama in 2019 and had 4 catches for 23 yards in 13 games. The 2020 season saw him make 55 catches for 916 yards and 6 TD’s. He was one of three starting Wide Receivers in the 2021 national championship game that Alabama won. Making him the first Canadian member of an NCAA National Champion in 17 years.
Because of an ACL tear suffered in the conference championship against Georgia he was sideleined from the 2021 college playoffs
He finished his college career with 155 catches, 2,081 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns.
The Winners so far
2017-18 Nathan Rourke So./QB Ohio Bobcats
2018-19 Nathan Rourke Jr./QB Ohio Bobcats
2019-20 Chuba Hubbard So./RB Oklahoma State Cowboys
2020-21 John Metchie III So./WR Alabama Crimson Tide
2021-22 John Metchie III Jr./WR Alabama Crimson Tide
For the second time in five seasons, we saw a back-to-back winner of the award given to the top Canadian in NCAA football. But next year we will see a new name on the Trophy. Whether they join Rourke and Metchie III and go on to win it at the double remains to be seen!
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