Upcoming Event: Football at North Carolina on November 22, 2025 at 3:30 p.m.
Football
at North Carolina
Carter Selected Jason Witten Man of the Year Semifinalist
11/16/2022 1:00:00 PM | Football
DALLAS – Redshirt junior defensive tackle DeWayne Carter was announced as one of 20 semifinalists for the sixth annual Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.
Compiled by a subset of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Selection Committee, the semifinalists have all demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.
Â
Carter, a 6-3, 298-pound Pickerington, Ohio, native has been an instrumental piece to the Blue Devils' defense during his tenure. In 36 career games, he has compiled 77 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 10.0 sacks, seven caused fumbles, three fumble recoveries, eight quarterback pressures and six pass breakups. In 2022, Carter is tied for second nationally in fumble recoveries (3) and tied for third in forced fumbles (3), while his seven career forced fumbles rank tied with Bob Grupp and Matt Daniels for fourth all-time on Duke's career chart.
Â
In the community, Carter has volunteered his time working with Habitat for Humanity building houses, participated in Duke's Reading with the Blue Devils program, is a frequent visitor of Duke's Children's Hospital and is a consistent tutor at KIPP Durham College Preparatory School as well as Durham Public School's IGNITE. In addition, he has stepped up to be a team accountability leader and serves as a First Year ACTION Mentor, guiding freshman student-athletes through the adjustment of college life. He was recently named a 2022 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Member and serves on the board for Duke's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, United Black Athletes and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
Â
Sixteen seniors and four juniors make up the list. Among conferences, the Big Ten led the way with six selections, while the ACC had five. The SEC and Pac-12 had three each. The American Athletic had two semifinalists and the Big 12 had one selection.
Three finalists will be named for the award on Wednesday, December 14. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony in Frisco, Texas, on February 23, 2023.
Last year, Joshua Paschal of Kentucky won the fifth annual award. The first four 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 and Sam Ehlinger of Texas in 2020.
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's always an honor to announce the semifinalists for the Collegiate Man of the Year," said Witten. "But this year's group is especially impressive. These twenty young men are fantastic student-athletes and perfect examples of what makes college football so great. They have demonstrated exceptional character and leadership, often while facing large challenges. They are great representatives for the game of football, and I commend all nominees for getting to this point."
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 15 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.
The full list of semifinalists includes (in alphabetical order):
Holton Ahlers     East Carolina
Deslin Alexandre   Pittsburgh
Kamryn Babb      Ohio State
DeWayne Carter    Duke
Matthew Cindric   California
Sean Clifford    Penn State
Blake Corum     Michigan
Brendon Evers    Oklahoma State
Sam Hartman     Wake Forest
Alex Forsyth     Oregon
Dillan Gibbons    Florida State
Derick Hall     Auburn
Hendon Hooker    Tennessee
Tailon Leitzsey   Illinois
Kaevon Merriweather Iowa
Xavier McDonald   United States Naval Academy
Isaiah Moore     North Carolina State
Tanner Morgan    Minnesota
Edefuan Ulofoshio  Washington
Austin Williams   Mississippi State
#GoDuke
Â
Compiled by a subset of the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Selection Committee, the semifinalists have all demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.
Â
Carter, a 6-3, 298-pound Pickerington, Ohio, native has been an instrumental piece to the Blue Devils' defense during his tenure. In 36 career games, he has compiled 77 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 10.0 sacks, seven caused fumbles, three fumble recoveries, eight quarterback pressures and six pass breakups. In 2022, Carter is tied for second nationally in fumble recoveries (3) and tied for third in forced fumbles (3), while his seven career forced fumbles rank tied with Bob Grupp and Matt Daniels for fourth all-time on Duke's career chart.
Â
In the community, Carter has volunteered his time working with Habitat for Humanity building houses, participated in Duke's Reading with the Blue Devils program, is a frequent visitor of Duke's Children's Hospital and is a consistent tutor at KIPP Durham College Preparatory School as well as Durham Public School's IGNITE. In addition, he has stepped up to be a team accountability leader and serves as a First Year ACTION Mentor, guiding freshman student-athletes through the adjustment of college life. He was recently named a 2022 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Member and serves on the board for Duke's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, United Black Athletes and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
Â
Sixteen seniors and four juniors make up the list. Among conferences, the Big Ten led the way with six selections, while the ACC had five. The SEC and Pac-12 had three each. The American Athletic had two semifinalists and the Big 12 had one selection.
Three finalists will be named for the award on Wednesday, December 14. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony in Frisco, Texas, on February 23, 2023.
Last year, Joshua Paschal of Kentucky won the fifth annual award. The first four 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 and Sam Ehlinger of Texas in 2020.
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's always an honor to announce the semifinalists for the Collegiate Man of the Year," said Witten. "But this year's group is especially impressive. These twenty young men are fantastic student-athletes and perfect examples of what makes college football so great. They have demonstrated exceptional character and leadership, often while facing large challenges. They are great representatives for the game of football, and I commend all nominees for getting to this point."
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 15 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.
The full list of semifinalists includes (in alphabetical order):
Holton Ahlers     East Carolina
Deslin Alexandre   Pittsburgh
Kamryn Babb      Ohio State
DeWayne Carter    Duke
Matthew Cindric   California
Sean Clifford    Penn State
Blake Corum     Michigan
Brendon Evers    Oklahoma State
Sam Hartman     Wake Forest
Alex Forsyth     Oregon
Dillan Gibbons    Florida State
Derick Hall     Auburn
Hendon Hooker    Tennessee
Tailon Leitzsey   Illinois
Kaevon Merriweather Iowa
Xavier McDonald   United States Naval Academy
Isaiah Moore     North Carolina State
Tanner Morgan    Minnesota
Edefuan Ulofoshio  Washington
Austin Williams   Mississippi State
#GoDuke
Â
Players Mentioned
DT
/ FootballWesley Williams: Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, November 15
Coach Diaz: Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, November 15
Manny Diaz Joins CBS Sports HQ
Saturday, November 15
Coach Diaz Media Availability: Virginia
Wednesday, November 12
