Braden Atkinson Wins 2025 Jerry Rice Award

MACON – Braden Atkinson slapped an emphatic entry into a phenomenal rookie campaign on Wednesday morning when Mercer's record-breaking quarterback was announced as the winner of the 2025 Jerry Rice Award which honors the national freshman player of the year in college football's Division I FCS subdivision.

Atkinson picked up 51 out of a possible 54 first-place votes from a national voting panel and compiled 267 points on the way to staking claim to the honor. UC Davis quarterback Caden Pinnick finished second with 149 points, while Houston Christian running back Xai'Shaun Christian was third with 69 points. Wednesday's announcement marked the first time in the history of the award that a Southern Conference student-athlete has been decorated with the award.

The Jerry Rice Award, celebrating its 15th anniversary season, is named after legendary Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice who starred in the FCS at Mississippi Valley State. Past recipients include Cooper Kupp, Chase Edmonds, Trey Lance, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders.

The Jerry Rice Award includes true and redshirt freshmen, and all 13 FCS conferences were represented on the list of 25 finalists that was announced late last month. Atkinson will be honored at the Stats Perform National Awards Show on January 3 in Nashville, Tenn.

A native of Rolesville, N.C., and a product of Rolesville High School, Atkinson has completed 68.1 percent (250-for-367) of his pass attempts this season and has already broken school single-season records for passing completions (250), attempts (367), yards (3,448) and touchdowns (34). He has thrown for 300 or more yards in eight of his 10 starts, including a school-record 533 yards amid Mercer's 62-0 home win over VMI on October 25. He has also, thrice, matched the program's single-game superlative for passing touchdowns with five scoring tosses against Samford, VMI and Chattanooga.

He currently ranks second among all FCS signal callers in passing yards, passing yards per game (344.8), passing touchdowns and completions per game (25.00), while ranking third, nationally, in points responsible for per game (21.0), total offense per game (345.8) and yards per pass attempt (9.40).

The Bears (9-2, 8-0 SoCon) will begin their road in the NCAA postseason on Saturday when they suit up to take on 11th-seeded South Dakota (9-4, 6-2 MVFC) in the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Kickoff has been scheduled for noon at Five Star Stadium.

Tickets for the game are still available and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

Players Mentioned

Braden Atkinson

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