Jerry Rice Award History: Every Winner of the FCS Freshman Award

Every year, the top freshman football player in FCS receives the Jerry Rice Award. The 2025 award went to Braden Atkinson, the quarterback at Mercer.

Everything you need to know about Stats Perform FCS’s yearly honors is provided here.

What is the FCS Jerry Rice Award, and who is its winner?

In order to recognize the best freshman player in the Football Championship Subdivision, the Jerry Rice Award was introduced in 2011.

Based on players’ regular-season performance, the winner of the award is chosen by a national panel of over 40 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers, and other luminaries. Voting is conducted before to the FCS playoffs.

STATS FCS has announced five national awards, including the Jerry Rice Award:

• Walter Payton Award (FCS offensive player of the year)
• Buck Buchanan Award (FCS defensive player of the year)
• Jerry Rice Award (FCS freshman of the year)
• Eddie Robinson Award (FCS coach of the year)
• Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Jerry Rice, the namesake of the freshmen player of the year award, was an NFL star who played for three other teams in addition to the San Francisco 49ers. Among his many honors were three Super Bowls, a Super Bowl MVP award, ten first-team All-Pro selections, and 13 NFL Pro Bowl appearances. From 1981 until 1984, the 1985 first-round selection started his career at Mississippi Valley State, an FCS college.

At 6’2″ and 200 pounds, Rice was an All-American wide receiver. He set records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns and was named an All-American twice. Rice is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

When will the FCS Jerry Rice Award winner be revealed?

Every year, the winner of the Jerry Rice Award is announced following the end of the FCS regular season. On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, the recipient for 2025 was revealed.

The Jerry Rice, Eddie Robinson, and Doris Robinson winners are all revealed in advance, but all five STATS FCS national honors are celebrated at the STATS FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation. During the ceremony, the Payton and Buchanan award winners are first announced.

During the season, STATS FCS releases the first Jerry Rice Award watch list. The finalists are announced after the list is updated on a regular basis.

FCS Jerry Rice Award: A full list of previous winners

The fifteenth Jerry Rice Award winner was quarterback Braden Atkinson of Mercer. During the 2025 regular season, Atkinson completed 68.1 percent of his throws for 3,448 yards and 34 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. He also added a running touchdown. After taking over as starting quarterback in Week 3, Atkinson led Mercer to a 9-0 record versus the FCS, earning 51 out of 54 first-place votes.

CharMar Brown, a running back for North Dakota State, was the 14th Jerry Rice Award winner. During the 2024 regular season, Brown averaged 5.1 yards per run while running for 965 yards and 14 touchdowns on 189 carries. Brown ended with three multi-scoring games and four 100-yard rushing games.

Eli Gillman, a running back from Montana, was the 13th Jerry Rice Award winner. During the 2023 regular season, Gillman averaged 5.6 yards per run while running for 857 yards and 10 touchdowns on 152 carries. In addition, Gillman ended with three 100-yard rushing games and 103 receiving yards.

Gevani McCoy, a quarterback at Idaho, was the 12th Jerry Rice Award winner. With 203-297 passes completed, McCoy broke the Idaho single-season completion percentage record with 68.4%.Throughout the season, he caught a touchdown pass and tossed for 2,791 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions. Additionally, he guided Idaho to its first FCS playoff berth since 1995 and its first winning season since 2016.

Since the award’s inception in 2011, quarterbacks have won a position-best seven times, while running backs have won five. Additionally, one linebacker and one wide receiver have received honors. No school has more than one winner.

Future NFL players Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington, 2013), Chase Edmonds (Fordham, 2014), and Trey Lance (2019) are among the other notable former awardees. View the complete list below.

FCS Jerry Rice Award winners (2011-2025):