Jackson Woodard Wins Mountain West Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Former UNLV Rebels linebacker Jackson Woodard is one of the most decorated student-athletes in the program's history. Along with a laundry list of other awards, he is the current Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, 2024 First-Team All Mountain West, and earlier in the week was just named the Mountain West's Hal K. Rothman Sportsmanship Award winner. He has now won the most prestigious award of his career, when he was named the Mountain West Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Wednesday. Woodard became just the third Rebel to win this award from any sport.

The Criteria and History of the Mountain West Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award

According to the UNLV Rebels official Website, "Established by the Mountain West Joint Council in 1999, the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is the highest honor presented by the conference. The award is bestowed annually to the man and woman who best exemplify the term student-athlete by achieving excellence in athletics, academics and community involvement. In addition to athletic achievement, recipients of the MW Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award must have a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average, demonstrate leadership, and exhibit good character and conduct on and off the playing field. Each honoree will receive a $2,500 postgraduate scholarship."

Woodard On Earning This Honor

"I first want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm beyond grateful to win this incredible award. I want to thank all of my coaches and teammates for always pushing me to be better on and off the field. I'm also very thankful for (UNLV Assistant AD for Academic Services) David Wedley. He is much more than an academic advisor who helped me reach my potential in the classroom and in life. I am forever thankful for my time at UNLV and Las Vegas will always be a second home. Go Rebels!"

After graduating from UNLV, Jackson Woodard now finds himself at the Houston Texans training camp after joining the team as an undrafted free agent back in May. He will look to earn himself a spot on the team's 53-man roster this summer as the Texans ramp up to their Week 1 kickoff in September. The once great Rebel will now try to be the next great Texans' linebacker. If you want to watch Woodard, he will make his NFL debut on Saturday when the Texans take on the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday at 4 PM EST on the NFL Network.