NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) announced the 165 nominees for the 2016 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® Wednesday and two Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference student-athletes were named to the list. Complete AFCA Release
This award is one of the most coveted off-the-field honors in college football and this year marks the 25th anniversary of the award.
Tyler Howlett of Texas Lutheran University and Julian Turner of Trinity University were both honored as nominees.
Only one NCAA Division III conference, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with three nominees, had more honorees on the list than the SCAC.
Howlett, a senior for the Bulldogs, currently holds a 3.82 grade-point-average while majoring in accounting. On the field, he earned a spot on the 2015 All-SCAC First Team, while in the classroom, he earned First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District selections in 2014 and 2015.
Along with his Bulldog teammates, Howlett has been active in community service. He also volunteered with TLU's Hot Dogs Day of Service and contributed to clean-up duties in the community the past three years. He has also worked with community trash pick-up, including work in local Walnut Creek. Howlett also helped as a Salvation Army Bell Ringer.
Turner, a senior linebacker for the Tigers, has found much success on the field during his career, earning SCAC Defensive Player of the Year twice, while also being named to the D3football.com All-Region team. In 2015, he was a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award, which is given to the nation's top small college defensive player.
Off the field, Turner is a business major, with a focus in finance and he has earned a spot on the SCAC Academic Honor Roll for the last two years. He currently serves as the football representative on Trinity's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and he attended the 2016 NCAA Convention with SAAC representatives from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Additionally, Turner volunteers at San Antonio's Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, and has helped in fundraising efforts for Special Olympics. He also is a member of the "It's On Us" campaign to stop sexual assault.
In 2015, Turner traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to participate in the annual FLAME program, the acronym for Finding Leaders Among Minorities Everywhere. The program is sponsored by the United States Olympic Committee.
In honor of the 25th anniversary, Allstate and the AFCA will add three additional spots to this year's team and announce a final roster of 25 members in September. For the first time in the award's history, the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® will be comprised of 12 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, 12 players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and the NAIA and an honorary head coach.
From the nominees submitted by sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, a special voting panel consisting of former Good Works Team® members and prominent college football media members will select the 2016 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®.
Once the final team members are announced in September, fans are encouraged to visit the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® website on ESPN.com, featuring profiles and images of the players, for the opportunity to vote for the 2016 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® Captain.
In order to meet the criteria set forth by Allstate and the AFCA, each player must be actively involved with a charitable organization or service group while maintaining a strong academic standing.
