ATLANTA — BYU center Connor Pay was today named to the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watch List for the 2024 football season. Established in 2005, the trophy is presented annually by the Wuerffel Foundation to the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership and achievement on and off the field.
Pay, a 6-6, 312-pound senior, from Alpine, Utah, was recently named to the 2024 Athlon Sports All-Big 12 Team and to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 Watch List, which identifies the nation's top NFL draft eligible players for the coming season.
As a junior in 2023, Pay was on the watch list for Rimington Trophy for a second-straight season and was named preseason All-Big 12 by Athlon Sports and Pro Football Focus. Following his sophomore season in 2022 he was named to the College Network All-Independent First Team.
In addition to his success on the field, Pay also excels in the classroom with a 3.84 GPA in entrepreneurial management. He was named CSC Academic All-District in both 2023 and 2024 and was selected to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team following the 2023 season.
Pay is actively involved in variety of community service endeavors. He regularly volunteers at local foodbank Tabitha’s Way Food Pantry and visits patients at the Utah Valley Hospital who are struggling with illness and accidents. Additionally, Pay has done volunteer work with the Make a Wish Foundation and is actively involved in the BYU True Blue Hero program that honors individuals in the community who are battling to overcome life-changing illnesses. From 2018-20, Pay served a two-year volunteer service mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington, D.C.
The Wuerffel Trophy is named after Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Danny Wuerffel, whose life mission is to inspire greater service in the world.
Beginning with the 2024 season, the Wuerffel Foundation has partnered with Allstate to unify college football’s highest community service honors. Eleven of the Wuerffel Trophy watch list honorees will be named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and become semifinalists for the Wuerffel Trophy.
The winner of the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy will be announced during the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 12, 2024. An awards gala will take place on Feb. 1, 2025, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.