Jet Award

Jet Award
Awarded forthe top return specialist in college football
CountryUnited States
History
First award2011
Most recentKaden Wetjen, Iowa
Websitehttps://thejetaward.com/

The Jet Award, named in honor of 1972 Heisman Trophy winner Johnny "the Jet" Rodgers, is awarded to the top return specialist in college football beginning with the 2011 season. Joe Adams was announced as the first winner on March 29, 2012. Beginning with the 2012 award ceremony, in addition to being given to the annual award winner, the Rodgers Award will be presented retroactively one decade at a time, starting with the 1959–1969 winners.

Winners

YearWinnerSchoolRef.
2011Joe AdamsArkansas
2012Tavon AustinWest Virginia
2013Ty MontgomeryStanford
2014Tyler LockettKansas State
2015Christian McCaffreyStanford
2016Adoree' JacksonUSC
2017Dante PettisWashington
2018Savon ScarverUtah State
2019Joe ReedVirginia
2020Avery WilliamsBoise State
2021Marcus JonesHouston
2022Derius DavisTCU
2023Zachariah BranchUSC
2024Kaden WetjenIowa
2025Kaden Wetjen (2)Iowa

Legacy winners

YearWinnerSchool
1959Billy CannonLSU
1960Pat FischerNebraska
1961Paul AllenBYU
1965Mike GarrettUSC
1970Joe WashingtonOklahoma
1971Cliff BranchColorado
1972Terry MetcalfLong Beach State
1974Rick UpchurchMinnesota
1975Billy "White Shoes" JohnsonWidener
1983Mel GrayPurdue
1985 Erroll Tucker Utah
1997 Tim Dwight Iowa
1999Dante HallTexas A&M
2000Aaron LockettKansas State
2002DeJuan GroceNebraska
2006Ted Ginn Jr.Ohio State

References

  1. ↑ Kercheval, Ben (March 29, 2012). "Joe Adams comes away with Johnny Rodgers Award". NBC Sports. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Kaipust, Rich (March 27, 2012). "Johnny Rodgers introduces new award". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. ↑ Jones, Matt (March 29, 2012). "Adams named Rodgers Award winner". wholehogsports.com. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Tavon Austin wins Jet Return Specialist Award". big12sports.com. Big 12 Conference. January 16, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Another Award for Tavon". wvusports.com. West Virginia University. January 16, 2013. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Ty Montgomery wins Jet Award". ESPN.com. ESPN. January 9, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  7. ↑ Barnett, Zach (March 19, 2015). "K-State's Tyler Lockett wins Jet Award (What is the Jet Award?)". collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Christian McCaffrey wins Jet Award as top return specialist". ESPN.com. ESPN. January 28, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Adoree' Jackson Drafted By Titans In NFL First Round". usctrojans.com. University of Southern California. April 27, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2026. Last season, he won the Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back and Jet Award as the nation's top punt returner
  10. ↑ "TBL: In Omaha to receive Jet Award, Adoree Jackson reflects on USC career, looks forward to NFL draft". Omaha World-Herald. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Utah State's Savon Scarver Heading to Nebraska To Receive Jet Award". utahstateaggies.com. Utah State University. April 10, 2019. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Joe Reed Named Recipient of Jet Award as Nation's Top Return Specialist". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. January 8, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Avery Williams Named Jet Award Winner". broncosports.com. Boise State University. January 27, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  14. ↑ "A celebration of football: Jet Award Gala saw the stars out in Omaha". ketv.com. KETV. April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Davis Wins the Jet Award". gofrogs.com. Texas Christian University. January 26, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  16. ↑ "USC's Zachariah Branch Wins Jet Award". usctrojans.com. University of Southern California. January 11, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Wetjen Named 2024 Jet Award Winner". hawkeyesports.com. University of Iowa. January 7, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Wetjen Becomes First Jet Award Repeat Winner". hawkeyesports.com. University of Iowa. January 5, 2026. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  19. ↑ "PREVIOUS WINNERS – the Jet Award".