The Davey O'Brien Award, an annual college football award, was named after Robert David O'Brien, a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1939 to 1941. Following O'Brien's demise in 1977, the trophy was named the Davey O'Brien Memorial Trophy from 1977 to 1980 for the most outstanding player in the Southwest. It was later changed to the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award in 1981. Since then, it has been given to the quarterbacks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association every year based on the judgment of the Davey O'Brien Foundation.
List of Davey O'Brien Award Winner Year by Year
The Davey O'Brien Award was first introduced in 1977 and Earl Campbell, a running back from Texas was the first winner. Mike Singletary from Baylor won the award twice in 1979 and 1980. Since 1981, Ty Detmer, Danny Wuerffel, Deshaun Watson, and Jason White have won the award twice, as of December 2024. The award is usually given in February at The Davey O'Brien Hall of Fame, located at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
| Player Name | Team | Year |
| Earl Campbell (RB) | Texas | 1977 |
| Billy Sims (RB) | Oklahoma | 1978 |
| Mike Singletary (LB) | Baylor | 1979 |
| Mike Singletary (LB) | Baylor | 1980 |
| Jim McMahon | BYU | 1981 |
| Todd Blackledge | Penn State | 1982 |
| Steve Young | BYU | 1983 |
| Doug Flutie | Boston College | 1984 |
| Chuck Long | Iowa | 1985 |
| Vinny Testaverde | Miami | 1986 |
| Don McPherson | Syracuse | 1987 |
| Troy Aikman | UCLA | 1988 |
| Andre Ware | Houston | 1989 |
| Ty Detmer | BYU | 1990 |
| Ty Detmer | BYU | 1991 |
| Gino Torretta | Miami | 1992 |
| Charlie Ward | Florida State | 1993 |
| Kerry Collins | Penn State | 1994 |
| Danny Wuerffel | Florida | 1995 |
| Danny Wuerffel | Florida | 1996 |
| Peyton Manning | Tennessee | 1997 |
| Michael Bishop | Kansas State | 1998 |
| Joe Hamilton | Georgia Tech | 1999 |
| Chris Weinke | Florida State | 2000 |
| Eric Crouch | Nebraska | 2001 |
| Brad Banks | Iowa | 2002 |
| Jason White | Oklahoma | 2003 |
| Jason White | Oklahoma | 2004 |
| Vince Young | Texas | 2005 |
| Troy Smith | Ohio State | 2006 |
| Tim Tebow | Florida | 2007 |
| Sam Bradford | Oklahoma | 2008 |
| Colt McCoy | Texas | 2009 |
| Cam Newton | Auburn | 2010 |
| Robert Griffin III | Baylor | 2011 |
| Johnny Manziel | Texas A&M | 2012 |
| Jameis Winston | Florida State | 2013 |
| Marcus Mariota | Oregon | 2014 |
| Deshaun Watson | Clemson | 2015 |
| Deshaun Watson | Clemson | 2016 |
| Baker Mayfield | Oklahoma | 2017 |
| Kyler Murray | Oklahoma | 2018 |
| Joe Burrow | LSU | 2019 |
| Mac Jones | Alabama | 2020 |
| Bryce Young | Alabama | 2021 |
| Max Duggan | TCU | 2022 |
| Jayden Daniels | LSU | 2023 |
FAQs on Davey O'Brien Award Winners
A. Cam Ward, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders are the finalists for the Davey O Brien Award for 2024 as per Daveyobrienaward.com.
A. The Davey O Brien Award is the best quarterback trophy, according to Daveyobrienaward.com.
A. The Davey O Brien Award is held every year at The Fort Worth Club, based on Wikipedia.
A. The Heisman trophy is the highest award in college football, as per NCAA.com.
A. Robert David O'Brien was the smallest player to win the Heisman Trophy with a height of 5 feet 7 inches in 1938, according to Heisman.com.
